Dog Days are Over
by just-beginning
Summary: Rogue is changing and growing more than she'd thought possible mere years ago. She's making order of her atypical life and learning to be happy again, even while dealing with some demons. But everyone has demons - the team's newest member certainly does, and he deals with them in his own way, too. In a school full of abnormalities, how will they help and hinder one another...
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, here's my latest X-Men story...i love the universe and have been dabbling with several ROMY stories, but I've liked this one best and have stuck with it the longest, so I wanted to post it and get some reactions. I have a pretty longterm story worked out in my head and just need to get it on paper, so I'm hoping that starting to post will motivate me to keep writing =)**

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Arrival  
_"I'm one of those regular weird people." -Janis Joplin_  
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**.**

Rogue jerked in her seat when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she snapped her head up quickly to look up at a very startled stewardess. Somewhat sheepishly, she plucked the headphones from hear ear to eliminate the quiet music that had lulled her to sleep.

"Sorry, sweetie...it's just about time to land..."

Rogue nodded quickly and threw in a smile as an apology to the older woman. Obediently, she turned off the iPod and stashed it away in her purse to comply with the no electronics policy. This left only the muted nose of the airplane's cabin to occupy her ears, but it was only for a short while.

She was a little nervous as the plane prepared to land. Not because she was scared of flying - she was far too used to it from missions on the BlackBird - but because this was her first solo job. She was excited though, too, and happy to really be contributing to the team again.

She had recently been gone from the mansion for quite some time. She had _planned_ to go away to Scotland to work with geneticist Moria McTaggart. Hank was brilliant and had been interested in studying her mutation to help her control it, but with all of his responsibilities in and out of the mansion he had limited time to do so. Professor Xavier had been the one to suggest the trip, so she had been hopeful that Dr. McTaggart might really be able to help.

She had been on her way to Scotland when everything had gone wrong...

She'd been attacked before she could complete the journey, kidnapped and taken to a remaining faction of Stryker Labs. Many tests had been performed on her there. Things had been done that scared her and most of it she still did not understand. It had all been perfectly horrifying, but she and another captive had been able to escape. Unfortunately she had been pretty drugged-up when they made their get-away and by the time she made it to Westchester she didn't know just where she'd come from, so she didn't have much to tell the Professor as far as where to go to save the other prisoners and finally end what remained of Stryker's legacy.

She didn't even know how to get in contact with her fellow escapee - he had split once she was in New York - and she refused to tell the professor who he was. Her companion had been extremely wary of this "school" and the "professor" when she explained where she'd come from and had made her give her word that she wouldn't get him roped into their business. While she very much wanted to help the other captives, she took this promise seriously because she owed her escape companion far too much to betray him.

Her refusal to talk about him had not gone over well with many of the X-Men. Scott, in particular, became somewhat icy with her when she wouldn't divulge absolutely everything. He assured her that he understood the idea that "a promise made should be a promise kept," but he also felt this topic was too important for her to be keeping promises to someone she barely knew.

Logan, too, bad been disappointed she couldn't/wouldn't reveal more. He had a great vendetta against Stryker, after all, and hearing that the entire operation had not been destroyed years ago at Alkali Lake was a distinct blow to him.

If anything good was to be said about what had happened at Stryker - and Rogue hesitated very much to call any of it "good" - it was that something the workers had done had stopped her toxic skin from being outside her control. The on-switch of her mutation could be turned off, now...she didn't know how, she didn't know why, **but** she was ruefully grateful for it.

Hank had been most fascinated and had insisted on running some tests. He still had no definite explanations and Rogue was hesitant to participate in further medical testing...she found Hank's labs uncomfortable and distasteful these days after so much un-wanted lab time with Stryker employees...

Rogue shook these thoughts from her head as the plane finished taxiing to a stop. She joined the rest of the passengers as they shuffled around with their bags into the isle to slowly make their way to the terminal. She found herself getting antsy; she was excited to get there and be greeted by Logan.

Once she had recuperated upon her return to the mansion, Logan had taken to training her. This was to get her back up to snuff, and she had happily dove into endless exercises to serve as a distraction from all of her thoughts and memories. It was during these trainings and danger room sessions that she began to find she could tap-into some of the powers that belonged to the dormant psyches in her mind. It had started with Magneto's power, which was most prominent because of his strength and the length of their contact - she also suspected it was because Logan's metal skeleton had been a temptation to the latent display of the power...

The Professor hypothesized that now her mind and body wasn't unconsciously focused on not draining the life from everyone around her it was now aware of the potential powers within her.

She and Logan had put in countless training hours, learning how to focus on Magneto and his power. It was always Logan she trained with, since he could heal in case anything were to go wrong. She'd learned to control Magnet's power rather well even though it exhausted her if she used it too much. She had a lot of difficulty using Logan's power, her body just didn't seem to want to put itself back together of it's own accord...it was slow going when she did manage to get it to work. She had become adept at drawing forth Jubilee's power, too, but had nowhere near as much control and skill as Jubilee herself.

_'We're badass, firework-throwing bitches, now…who's gonna mess with us_?' Jubilee had cheered once Rogue started to be able to show some control control with the mini fireworks.

Not long after this, Logan had left the mansion.

Everyone had always known it was only a matter of time - he just couldn't seem to settle in one place for too long. He headed South to look for what remained of Stryker Labs where Rogue had been kept. She knew they had to have been South of Missouri because the first place she remembered being conscious of where she was during the scape had been in just after St. Louis on the way home, and she knew it had been quite hot where they'd been kept. This information was enough for Logan to make a go on and try to make more headway.

Rogue had considered going with him but knew he'd do better on his own - that was just his way. So she had not seen him for quite some time now and was excited for that to change. He agreed to meet her there in the Big Easy to help her get settled. He couldn't stay long because had to head West to meet someone, but he was coming from Florida so he had time to stop in Louisiana to make sure her trip started smoothly.

When she wandered out through the airport, she didn't find Logan waiting so she quickly turned her phone back on to see if he was just running late. She did find that she had a voicemail, but it ended up being from Scott:

_ 'Hi Rogue, hope your flight went well and I hope you get this before you start searching the airport for Logan. He's not going to be able to make it. His contact out West is trying to skip-out on him, so he's getting out there as fast as he can. Storm and I have gotten your rental car set up so that you don't have to deal with it, and you already have the information for the hotel, so you'll still be fine. I'm sure Logan will call you himself once he has a second to slow down, but he told us to tell you good luck. Let us know when you get there and call if you need us. Be safe._'

Rogue shot Scott a text to let him know she'd landed, unsurprised his last words were to be safe. He had misgivings about her going on this mission alone…he'd almost given-in to Bobby's pleas to go along with her, but Storm had won the argument when reasoning that Bobby couldn't afford to miss an undetermined amount of class.

Rogue narrowed her eyes at the thought of Bobby. She was getting to the point where she couldn't really even stand to talk to him much. He was interested in her again, and she knew better than to think it was a coincidence that his renewed interest coincided with her having control of her powers. He had been willing to forget all about Kitty back when Rogue took the cure, but it wore off after a few weeks and then he'd been fawning over the other girl again. She'd broken up with Bobby and he hadn't seemed too busted-up about it at the time. He and Kitty didn't work out, so -_of course_ - when she returned with control was when he'd regained some interest...

_**Idiot**._

She pushed him from her mind and headed to claim her baggage, bummed Logan wasn't there to chat with while she waited. She'd been very much looking forward to seeing him again - he was a special friend to her.

She managed alone, however, and grabbed her dufflebag when it came around the carousel. The only part of this she'd never done before was rent a car; once there, however, it was all straight-forward and she was soon heading into New Orleans in a car much nicer than necessary - of course Scott would rent her a nice car. For all the things he was strictly practical about, cars had _never_ been one of them.

After checking into her hotel, she grabbed several guest information pamphlets from a table to take to her room to investigate.

She was being sent to New Orleans to track down someone Storm was looking to recruit. He was allegedly an old friend of Storms, but Rogue felt this was a strange way to get in touch with a friend.

_'Well, it's been a while,'_ Storm had chuckled when Rogue voiced this. _'We haven't stayed in constant contact…but he owes me, so he'll come along when you find him.'_

Rogue had also wondered why Storm wasn't the one to come down, but understood Storm had classes to teach. So it fell to Rogue to track him down and tell him it was time he pay it forward and make good on whatever favor he owed Ororo Monroe.

Going through a stack of directional brochures, Rogue found she was close to the French Quarter, which didn't surprise her since Storm had made all of the arrangements. She had a map of the French Quarter and committed the necessary areas to memory so that she could find her way around without looking too much like a tourist.

From Storm, she knew she should center her search in and around Bourbon Street.

_"That's his sort of night life,"_ Storm had told her.

_"Check the darkest, seediest places first," _Scott had added in an angry mutter.

Storm had given her some starting places but told Rogue she might have to start asking around and trying to charm news out of people who worked there or appeared to be regulars. Apparently Storm wasn't confident in her recommendations of where to start because, as far as Storm knew, her friend had not been back to his hometown of New Orleans in quite some time.

Storm had admitted to being surprised and slightly dumbfounded when Professor Xavier announced that he had found the man in New Orleans using Cerebro. She had sheepishly even asked him to check again, which he had condescended to do, but the answer was still New Orleans. Sensing something had changed in the few years that has passed without contact, Storm wasn't confident that she knew just what was going on.

_ 'Of course, if you make a big enough stink about looking for him, __**he**__ might find __**you**__,' _Scott had pointed out.

Scott's ominous comments had made Rogue uneasy, but Storm had silenced him with a few pointed looks and assured Rogue that she'd be okay. Scott had scoffed when she said her friend wasn't as bad as Scott made him out to be, so Rogue wasn't sure exactly what to think. She let herself rely more on Storm's assessment, however, since Scott could be uptight about who he did and didn't like. After all, Scott ruefully tolerated Logan while Rogue held a firm affinity for him.

Since she was thinking of Storm's friend, Rogue pulled a paper from her backpack that was simply a headshot of who she was looking for.

She tried not think it looked too much like a mugshot, though Scott's scattered comments on the man made her think it could be…

Remy Lebeau had a chiseled face framed by dark hair that fell down around his chin. She wished there was more to the picture to give away his build or approximate height...she didn't want to miss him in a crowd.

However, Storm had assured her, with a smile, that she likely would _not_ miss Remy LeBeau in a crowd...

Rogue gazed at the picture a little longer before sitting it with the brochures and changing her clothes. She knew it wasn't too late to miss the New Orleans nightlife, but she still just changed into sweats and a t-shirt to get ready for sleep. She was too tired from a day of traveling to stay out late, and it would be nice to get a feel for the French Quarter in the day time before venturing in at night. New Orleans could be a dangerous city, and she was going about it alone so she wanted to be as prepared as possible. She was nervous about it, though not altogether scared since she had her powers on her side….she just didn't want to have to make a ruckus around here…

She let herself forget about it and crawled into bed to watch TV before sleep. For now she would rest, a lonely mutant in a big city likely crawling with mutants, and tomorrow she would begin the search of that city for one mutant in particular

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**Alright, I hope that was an adequate introduction. I have quite a few chapters written already, so hopefully I should be able to update again soon =]**


	2. Finding

**Hello there!  
Thanks for the reviews from Chapter 1, I very much appreciated them. It's good to be back after quite the hiatus from writing and posting on here. Chapter 2 is a little long, but not too much and I didn't think there was much point in splitting it into two. So I hope you enjoy! Thanks again for reading and reviewing =]  
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Finding

_"Being noticed can be a burden." - Bob Dylan  
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_._

Rogue was already falling in love with this place.

She'd woken up a little late in the morning at the hotel and gotten herself around at a leisurely pace before heading out in the sunny morning wearing black shorts and a light, gray knit top. She skipped the complementary breakfast and walked to the nearby French Quarter. She'd never been to New Orleans, but of the little bits she knew about it, she knew that Cafe Du Monde was a must for any visitor to the Quarter.

So she sat there with a coffee and an order of beignets while she browsed the newspaper. This was far more vacation-esque than any mission she'd been on before but she didn't care.

Maybe Scott would disapprove, but she didn't care about that, either.

She was going to relax for a little bit and pretend she was a normal young woman on a normal little vacation. Once she was finished with this delicious - albeit unhealthy - breakfast she would play her true part of "X-Man on the hunt" to bring a new recruit to the mansion. Until then, she would **not** think about the fact that she was bringing this man back because the world was becoming more dangerous and unstable, and the mansion needed more protection.

For now she was just on vacation.

When she finally did get up and pick her way through the crowded tables, she wandered with no real destination just yet. She loved the art being sold along the street around the Cathedral, and the music everyone played created the kind of atmosphere one wanted to stay and meander around in. She didn't let herself for too long, though, and eventually walked with a more precise destination in mind to check out some of the areas Storm had emphasized. Most were bars and places to gamble, so Rogue knew she had better odds of him being there at night; she just wanted to find the places and peek around ahead of time. No one noticed or bothered her; she was glad it was a busy area even at this time of day so she was not out of place.

She didn't think anyone could really be out of place there, though. Rogue had always felt her hair made her stand out a bit. With the thin strands of white framing her face, she always thought people would think she was some kind of scene kid going through a strange phase. She was currently much more used to her hair than she used to be - after trying to unsuccessfully dye the strands, she had no choice but to ruefully accept the light locks. Here, though, she really didn't think twice about it sticking out because plenty of people had some kind of quirky appearance.

Anything went here, that much was certain.

She whiled away the afternoon this way, stopping in shops that she came across that looked interesting. The VooDoo shops were all pretty interesting and she bought Jubilee a pair of "cursed" earrings because she knew her friend would have gotten a kick out of the places that were scattered around on several streets. Maybe it wasn't so bad not having Logan there because she doubted how much patience he'd have for meandering and sight-seeing.

She was able to get an idea for what was where on Burbon Street that afternoon, and she indulged in a drink or two even though it was earlier than she'd usually get started drinking.

She was back at her hotel by late evening and rested for a while before going out to get some dinner and then get ready to go out for the night.

For as much as Storm insisted this Remy was perfectly safe, Rogue had a feeling that Scott's sardonic advice of going to the seediest places to find him wasn't all that sarcastic. She had an inkling he may have hit the nail on the head, but she felt a little wary of going to some of the seedy places she'd found. Going during the day was one thing, but she didn't want to stand out too much showing up there alone at night…

So, for her first night there she decided to go to more lively and brightly lit establishments so she could get a feel for the nightlife. She wore a dress, roushed and tight from the skirt up to above her waist with a draped neckline. It was sleeveless, as it was going to be a warm night, and she loved that - she took advantage of her non-toxic skin and wore clothes that showed it off now that she could (a choice that Logan fully disapproved off). Her heels were black and cute but reasonable….who knew what could happen while mutant-searching.

All in all, she fit in rather well with all of the other bar-hoppers. As a lively young woman, she was familiar with the bar scene and was able to have some fun between scouring the area for Remy LeBeau regardless of the fact that she was on her own. She got a drink bought for her by a drunk man, who then stumbled away, at the first bar she entered and she hoped that was a good sign for how her evening would pan out.

As it was, it **wasn't** a particularly good omen. Nothing bad happened, but nor did she find her mark.

There was also no sign of him for the next few nights, even though she ventured to the seedier places she could find. It was disheartening, but not altogether surprising…she was searching for one person amongst an entire city, after all. She knew she would hear from Storm or Scott if the Professor found him in another city, so she stayed and kept venturing out to find him.

"Haven't ya been in 'ere de past couple nights?" an older barkeep asked her in his Cajun-laced accent, squinting his eyes to focus on her.

She was grabbing a bite to eat at an admittedly seedy bar. She ordered something simple, unsure how much she trusted the cleanliness, but had come because she had finally decided she should begin **directly** asking about the mysterious Mr. LeBeau.

"Yeah," she smiled casually.

"…dis usually isn' da place the younger kids come," he chuckled. "But, hey, t' each their own. I'll take da business."

"Yeah, I noticed," Rogue chuckled. "I'm actually looking for someone…I knew him a long time ago," she fibbed.

"Lookin' for a specific man in dis city?" the man laughed. "Good luck wit' dat, sweetie."

"Well he's quite the regular around these parts…or he was. Like I said, it was quite a while ago that I knew him…years," she sighed, hoping she conveyed lost-and-confused in a pitiable way.

"Well if he's a patron round 'ere, throw me a name. It could be yo' lucky day."

"Remy LeBeau?"

He frowned and shook his head.

"Can't say it's ringin' bells. Sarry."

"Don't be…it was a shot in the dark to ask," she smiled, waving away the apology.

He nodded, agreeing, and moved on down the bar. While he helped some other customers, she returned to her food.

"LeBeau, y' say?'

Rogue turned towards the voice to see a man had gotten up from a nearby table to wander over - none of his friends seemed to notice or care.

"Yeah," she affirmed, looking him up and down.

He was older than her, probably in his early thirties or so, and had shorn dirty-blonde hair around a tan, mildly attractive face.

"I think yo' barkin' up de wrong tree, _fille,"_ he told her. "Dat Remy LeBeau ain' been 'round 'ere in years. _Le Diable Blanc_ don' run dese streets no more."

"Really? I heard different," she shrugged casually, unsure if him telling her she was barking up the wrong tree was a threat or warning to back off...perhaps it was merely a fact.

The man's eyebrow rose high on his head.

"An' who'd y' hear somethin' like dat from?"

"…a friend," she told him elusively.

"Is dat right? …cuz I'd be very interested indeed if he was back in dese parts," he told her.

She wasn't sure _precisely_ what she read in his face, but he seemed to be waiting... challenging her to tell him more.

"Well I won't know for sure until I find him, so I don't know what to tell you," she shrugged, casual again.

She felt strange about the situation so she set down some money to pay and leave even though she wasn't finished with her meal.

"Not yet, _fille_"

The man grabbed her upper arm to keep her were she was, and she knew her strange feelings about the situation were valid.

"Excuse you?"

"What? Y' gonna kill me?" he challenged quietly.

"Kill you?" Rogue blanched, taken aback by the assumption - did he know about her mutation or was he just supremely paranoid?

He seemed to take her shock as genuine because he loosened his grip and surveyed her with a sigh.

"Look, girl, I don' think y' know what kinds o' questions yo' askin'," he finally spoke, and she didn't miss the condescending way he called her girl. "But y' should jus' finish yo' sight seein' here an' go on home. Dis city will eat y' alive if yo' not careful."

And with those ominous words, he released her and returned to his friends.

Rogue made her way back to her hotel afterwards feeling highly confused. Who was that man and why had he even gotten involved in the situation? Was he, too, truly curious to find Remy LeBeau? Did he just not want her poking around? Why so defensive? And _why_ was he under the impression she might _kill_ him?

While all of her common sense said she should simply not return to that bar, she knew that's **exactly** what she needed to do. The bartender didn't seem to know who she as talking about - whether or not that was true, she didn't know - but that particular patron of the bar certainly had. That was the only lead she had to go on, so she'd have to follow it up…

…but maybe not tonight.

Something about the certainty in that man's words bothered Rogue and put her off. He would likely be looking for her tonight, so she'd just wait and go the next night…she'd do her hair differently and avoid getting too close to him. If she gave him some time, he surely wouldn't remember her enough to notice her in a crowded bar….

So that night she didn't go to that particular bar and instead re-visited some bars she'd already been to and dropped the name Remy LeBeau once or twice to see if she got any reaction. She didn't, but felt that maybe she had mentioned him around people who weren't locals…she tried in a couple different places, just to be sure.

At one point she got a weird look from someone but couldn't be sure if it was because the name rang a bell or because the person was high…

Maybe she'd have to change her searches to the daytime when people weren't already drunk and would actually pay attention to what she said. New Orleans certainly wasn't very conducive to getting work done

The following night found Rogue preparing to go back to the bar where she'd met the only man who, so far, seemed to know of any Remy LeBeau.

She was giving herself a mental pep-talk as she got ready in the mirror because she couldn't deny that the man had her a little wary.

This was an instance where having a partner along wouldn't be so bad. There was no one on God's green earth who could intimidate Logan, for example. However, she could not deny that she was having fun on this solo-trip, and Storm had seemed pretty adamant she could manage it alone - she liked that at least _one_ of her mentors showed such confidence in her.

So it was with a positive mantra and the thought of Storm's confidence that she walked out of the hotel in a black sleeveless shirt, fitted jeans, and black boots that reached up her calves over her jeans. Her shoes were heeled, but not much…if ever she was mentally prepared for a problem that she had to run away from, it was tonight.

Her heart leapt slightly when she sidled into the bar and saw the blonde man up at the bar. Eurkea! She turned her back to him to busy herself at the ATM needlessly so that he wouldn't turn and see her face after he got his drink. She peered over her shoulder and saw him heading back to a table so she went further down the bar to get a stool and order a drink. She ordered a drink and chatted casually with someone at the bar to lay low. She also kept one eye on the blonde , and she made sure to pay with cash so that she could follow him out at any moment.

She continuously scanned the bar but there were no signs of Remy LeBeau…so maybe this man didn't know him. Still, Rogue held out hope that if he left she could follow him somewhere else he was a regular patron. That way, she could go back there another time when he wasn't present and ask around.

She knew it was hardly the best plan -there was absolutely no guarantee to it, but it was all she had. She was thinking more and more that Storm really sent her here on a bit of a pipe dream. Without a more exact location of where to find this guy, how was this any better than finding a needle in a haystack? Didn't Storm know his last address or something? Shouldn't there be a paper trail to follow that tracked where he'd lived? No; instead she was was more or less sent barhopping. She didn't mind, but she knew Storm couldn't have sent her here as a glorified booze-cruise…

Caught up in her musings, she almost didn't realize that the blonde stranger had gotten up to go after an hour or so of hanging around and playing pool. She left without bidding farewell to her conversation partner and followed him at a distance.

It really wasn't hard to be discrete since so many people were still milling around out in the dark. Even when he cut through an alley to a less-busy street there were enough people to blend in with.

When he entered another establishment, it was a dim bar-and-casino. He had been on the phone with someone, though she couldn't hear who, and hung up before darting in through the open door. She waited a good few minutes before she entered, too.

She momentarily panicked because a quick sweep of the place didn't reveal him. She cursed, hoping he hadn't noticed her and the evening's plan hadn't been wasted.

She ventured further into the dark bar and saw there was another section around the corner, following the bend in the bar. She saw the blonde man, the back of his white button-down shirt standing out against the dimness. She eased up to a stool near the bend of the bar and ordered a drink. She was close enough to the corner that she could just see where he was standing but not so close that she was the first thing he'd see if he turned around.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as he stooped to talk into someone's ear and her heart rate quickened when his change of position revealed just who he was talking to.

Remy LeBeau! Score.

His hair was shorter now, cropped more around his ears, but it was **definitely** his face.

_'You lying bastard…you knew he was here the whole time...'_

Remy did not look sorry to see this man, so, yes, they must have been on good terms …probably friends.

_'Ass,'_ Rogue internally cursed when the blonde straightened up, shaking his head.

He made a few frustrated gestured with his arms, but Remy LeBeau just grinned and shook his head carelessly. The blonde must've said something right (or wrong…she obviously couldn't be sure) because Remy's face grew serious and his shoulders squared as he nodded. The two men then clasped hands briefly before the blonde turned to leave.

Rogue quickly twisted, as if to talk to the person next to her, until she saw him sweep by and out the way he'd come. She glanced quickly and found that Remy remained where he was, still playing cards, so she could rest easy until she decided the best way to approach him.

Rogue had been so caught up in the task of just tracking him down and catching sight of him in the past several days that she had not made a definitive plan for approaching him. Scott would be displeased, saying she should've had a word-by-word plan for every situation. Logan wouldn't be bothered that she didn't have such a strict plan - he was all for playing things by ear.

She'd seen that he was playing poker, so she considered going over to see if she could get in on the game. Logan had taught her how to play a while back and she'd caught on fairly well….but this probably wasn't the time to see how well the lessons had stuck over time.

He was at a table of men, so maybe approaching him wouldn't be best. She could wait until he got up for a drink, but soon realized a barmaid was taking drinks to the back table…clearly they were all regulars back in their dark corner.

So that idea was out, but she'd wait for an opportunity because she wasn't going to miss-out on it tonight - she wasn't above accosting him on the way to the bathroom or some other elementary tactic if she had to. She scoffed at that idea and scanned the bar for someone to pick up casual conversation with. B eing a girl in a low-cut shirt, it usually wasn't hard, and it would be a good way to blend in and casually keep an eye on Mr. LeBeau.

She let her gaze brush over him while she looked around, but she froze when she saw him staring straight at her.

He wasn't looking in her general area, he wasn't sweeping his eyes over the bar -his gaze was locked onto hers. She held the look for a while, letting her surprised look morph into something more casual, even flirty. Perhaps he'd just noticed a young woman at the bar and it was nothing suspicious.

But Rogue didn't actually think it was coincidence, somehow…

Slightly unnerved by his dark, stoic gaze, she looked away just as someone sat down next her. In her wary state, she jumped slightly, but it was just some woman.

"Oh, sorry…dis seat taken?" she asked, Southern accent prevalent.

"No," Rogue shook her head, laughing softly. "I just wasn't paying attention and you surprised me."

The blonde smiled and ordered something when a bartender came over. She crossed her legs regally so Rogue assumed she was there to stay and hoped she could strike up conversation with her. The woman was very beautiful, Rogue decided. She was voluptuous with long, full hair that was a perfect golden blonde that any all-American girl would die for.

"Can't blame ya for starin'," the blonde smiled.

Rogue started. She hadn't _really_ been staring at the woman - not in that way - and was a little embarrassed.

"What?"

"At the eye candy," the blonde smiled, nodding towards the back corner where Rogue knew Remy was sitting.

"Oh," Rogue sighed in awkward relief. "Yeah, you caught me," she chuckled.

Now that the subject was broached, he really was very good looking. Rogue had been too occupied with figuring out how to go talk to him to fully process what an impressive figure he cut as he sat there. She figured a completely legitimate excuse to talk to him would be to flirt with him…get him away from his group of friends and then broach the subject of why she as really there…

"Well, like I said; I can't blame y'. Mr. LeBeau is **quite** de specimen…"

"You know him?" Rogue asked, too surprised at accidentally finding someone who knew him to really register the resentful tone in which this woman spoke.

"Unfortunately"

Rogue frowned. Even though she realized he wasn't popular with everyone (Scott, for instance) it was a forward thing to say to someone you don't know.

"Oh?"

"Yes, so if y' were wanting me to introduce y', yo' outta luck. I say move on. Look, but don' bother stickin' around t' touch..."

The woman was frowning at the display of liquor behind the bar, now, and her face was twisted in a scowl.

"Oh, I didn't have any intentions," Rogue backpedaled, holding up her hands defensively. "I just wanted to talk to him later - he's an old friend of a friend…"

"I really wouldn' bother," the woman told her icily.

Rogue nodded and turned back to her drink, hoping that she was signaling the conversation over. Although she would like to talk more with someone who knew Remy LeBeau, she could tell it really wouldn't be a helpful talk with this particular woman.

Glancing toward Remy again, she found he was no longer watching.

"How does yo' friend know him?" the blonde questioned.

Rogue sighed, wondering if she wanted to bother answering.

"They met down here a long time ago"

That was mostly a fabrication. It was what Rogue guessed since Storm knew some of his old haunts, but she had no real proof.

"De friend have a name?"

"Most people do," Rogue nodded, trying to insinuate to the woman that she was being rather nosey.

"Oh, aren' we clever," the woman smiled in a way that was somehow anything but friendly.

Another glance at Remy showed he was still not turned their way, but she could swear he was watching out of the corner of his eye.

Hmmm…if these two were going to gang up on her, it might be better to leave than to cause a scene with so many other people around.

"I asked if yo' friend had a name, _sweetie_," she reiterated harshly.

"And I insinuated that the answer was yes," Rogue told her calmly.

She was 99% sure she was channeling Logan's psyche because she was pretty sure he'd handle this the same snappsih way, only he'd have a cigar in hand and a shot in front of him.

"I ain' got no time or patience fo' games," the girl spat, losing her cool first as she grabbed the seat of Rogue's chair to twist it around quickly.

Rogue had an angry retort ready to let this woman know she didn't much care what the woman had time and patience for, but she never got to throw out the biting comment. Instead, a strong hand closed around her elbow, pulling so that her seat twisted back to it's original position. Shocked again, she looked up with another retort ready, but stopped…

She was looking up into the dark, red-on-black eyes of Remy LeBeau. She knew he had them from seeing his picture, but the orbs were still somewhat startling up close...

"I think it's time for y' to go"

He was glaring at the blonde woman but clearly talking to Rogue.

"I n-" she tried to protest.

"Finish yo' drink somewhere else an' den get out," he ordered, glancing down at her for a second and pushing her drink closer.

He then began hauling her up from the stool.

"Hey!"

"Go," he ordered again.

His glare fell on her, then, and she faltered despite herself.

It was a frightening display, truth be told. Not only because his eyes were positively smoldering, but because he was drawn up to his full height, which was considerable, and he was really rather broad. His hateful gaze settled on her for the briefest second, and it was enough to stop her cold.

She looked between him and the other woman, who was glaring just as hatefully right back at him.

X-Man or not, she had just stepped into the middle of something that she instinctively wanted to get away from. A couple people were starting to look, so she just grabbed her glass off the bar and drifted away

The two of them remained at the bar and began talking lowly. Even though she couldn't hear them she could tell the words were angry. They were each jabbing fingers at each other, and Remy finally jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

In a huff, the woman downed the rest of her drink before Remy grabbed her elbow, as he'd earlier grabbed Rogue's, and led her off. Rogue soon saw they were headed for a side door and, hoping it lead to an alley, she set her glass down on a random table and hurried out to try to get around the building.

She was held-up momentarily by a drunken group of men but she pushed through and slipped down the alley.

Score! She heard voices.

"…what'd y' think, Remy - we'd turn a blind eye? Yo' a cocky bastard, but even y' ain' _dat_ stupid," the blonde chuckled.

"What choice was dere, Bella?" Remy's deeper voice spat.

"Surely yo' dear father could've thought of somethin' dat didn' break de pact!"

"So, what? Yo' gonna go tell all yo' murderin' little friends I'm back in town? Den it was stupid of y' t' show yo'self - I can disappear better den anybody."

Rogue's eyes widened at the mention of murdering friends as she crept closer…yes, she'd certainly stepped in the middle of something very bad. She walked carefully, hunched down, so that her heels wouldn't make noise.

"Oh, I don' need dem..."

Rogue froze and her heart leapt to her throat when she heard the click of a gun being cocked. She whipped her head around, first thinking she'd been caught snooping from behind, but there was no one. Peering ahead again, she could see that the blonde had drawn a gun on Remy.

Shit! She was pretty sure she was not supposed to bring back a Remy LeBeau who had holes in him!

"Ah-ah," the woman tutted. "Y' keep dose hands straight up where I can see dem…I ain' takin' no chances of y' getting your hands on somethin'."

Rogue watched from several feet back as Remy slowly gave in to the order and kept his hands up, fingers spread.

"Y' getting' good, aren' y' BellaDonna?…didn' even see y' reach fo' dat," he complimented ruefully.

"Well, you've been gone fo' a long time, Remy LeBeau"

"Forgive me if I blame some o' dat on you… how many people y' killed Bella? Any o' dem an old friend? Think y' can do it?" he taunted.

"Shut up," the blonde, Bella, chuckled. "Dis really isn' goin' to bother me…it's a long time commin', don' y' think?"

"Can' say I do"

"On yo' knees"

"…usually it's de man sayin' dat t' de _femme._"

His voice was staying steady and she had to admire his nerve a bit, but Rogue could see his eyes darting around for a way out as he dropped to his knees in the light coming from a decrepit alley light hanging over the back door.

This really wasn't supposed to be happening, but Rogue began to steel herself the way she'd trained.

Rogue stood up as the woman leveled her gun down at Remy's head. Remy saw the movement and widened his eyes, mouth dropping open as if to say something.

"_Au_ _revoir_, _chere_," Bella spoke quietly, moving her finger more firmly over the trigger.

There was a resounding, heart-stopping bang but Remy did not slump to the ground as Bella expected, as Rogue knew he wouldn't.

"What de fuck?" Bella exclaimed.

Rogue was walking forward, now, careless that her heels were clicking on the dirty ground. Bella looked over her shoulder, gun still aimed at Remy, and glared heatedly.

"You!" she snarled.

"Me," Rogue couldn't help but smirk at the woman's frustration -yeah, she was definitely modeling after Logan today.

Both Louisiana natives watched as Rogue came level to them and plucked the small bullet from midair, where it hung between the two apparent enemies.

"Another **freak,"** Bella spat.

The gun was turned on her, now, and Remy shouted but two bullets froze between the two women after two successive gun blasts.

Bella's eyes widened in fury and Rogue let the bullets fall to the floor. Bella shrieked in rage, drawing what looked like a dagger from seemly nowhere.

Remy flew into action, then, and tackled her.

"What's going on down there!" someone shouted.

Police sirens were sounding somewhere in the distance, too, which was no surprise after three gunshots.

"_Merde_," Remy hissed as he wrestled Bella down.

Sirens drew closer.

"Sorry yo' fun got spoiled," Remy spat at Bella, shoving himself up from the ground, knowing they shouldn't be around when the police actually got there.

"Yo' still a dead man, Remy LeBeau….an' yo' friend, too! Y' dead, bitch!" Bella spat.

"Gonna have to try a little harder, aren't you?" Rogue couldn't help but throw back at her.

Remy snorted and grabbed her wrist before sprinting down off the alley as flashing lights glowed close to the other end of the alley. Rogue struggled to keep up with his longer legs, and he tugged at her arm impatiently until they got out of the immediate area. She did manage, though- probably courtesy of training.

It was quite evident this was his home because he seemed to know exactly where they were going and soon slowed.

"I owe y' one, _chere_," he panted. "Ain' everyday a stranger puts deir neck out 'round here."

"Well, I've been looking for you"

"So I heard…my brother Henri figured you'd follow him," he smirked. "Thought you'd show up yesterday but he finally brought y' by tonight."

"He _knew_?" her shoulders slumped, annoyed.

"He said y' did a good job tailin' him - he's jus' had more practice at this sortta thing," Remy told her as a matter of fact, almost as if they hadn't just run from the cops and he hadn't just had a gun pointed at his head. "So?"

"So what?"

"So whattcha want?" he urged her, grinning humorlessly. "Dere ain' many people who'd know t' look fo' me here right now…thought y' was one o' Bella's friends but dat mistake was obvious de way she was lookin' at y' in de bar…"

"Yeah, I've never met her before …I'm here to call in a favor. Not my own, but there's someone else you owe, as you might know," she told him carelessly.

His whole demeanor shifted and, before she could even register confusion at the mood change, he threw her into the side of a brick building. She would've cried out in pain but one large hand circled her neck, holding her closer to his height so that her toes just brushed the cement.

"I _don_'t owe him no more," Remy growled, red eyes practically crackling now as she coughed. "I paid my debt and he knows it! Y' gonna relay dat message or am I gonna have t' send him yo' broken body as my answer?"

He was serious.


	3. Favors

**Hey, sorry for the delay...it took longer than I meant it to, but I've just moved and we had really shoddy internet for a while...no wireless until a day or two ago. Boo. So I did some editing and here we are with a pretty long chapter. Enjoy.  
**

* * *

_Favors  
"You've got to get it while you can."  
_-Janis Joplin

...

_ His whole demeanor changed and, before she could even register confusion at the mood change, he threw her her into a brick building wall. She would've cried out in pain but one large hand circle her neck, holding her closer to his height so that her toes just brushed the cement. _

_ "I don't owe him no more," Remy growled, red eyes practically crackling now as she coughed. "I paid my debt and he knows it! Y' gonna relay dat message or am I gonna have t' send him yo' broken body as my answer?"_

_ He was serious. _

... ... ...

It was also serious that she was not taking in enough air.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she gasped.

"Nathaniel!" he ground out.

Rogue shook her head, pulling at his hands - he had about five second before she used her own power on him.

As it was, his grip slackened slightly; it was enough that she didn't feel the immediate need to suck him of his life energy.

"…who y' here for?" he asked her, eyes scrutinizing.

"Ororo Monroe," she breathed.

"Storm?!" his eyes widened in surprise and he released her quickly.

"Yeah," she nodded, breathing in adequate amounts of air and massaging her throat.

For good measure, she took a couple large steps away.

"Sorry, _chere_…thought y' meant someone else..."

"Obviously," Rogue coughed.

"Didn' hit y' head, did y'?"

All hate was gone from his face and there was no longer a pretext of rage in the air. She just shook her head, mind reeling from the abruptness of what had taken place in the last few moments.

"Good….so, what's de favor? Y' her friend lost in De Big Easy who needs someone t' show her around?" he grinned easily. "How'd she know I was in town?"

It was somewhat disconcerting how easily he shifted from situation to situation. He was chatting with her one moment, bodily threatening her the next, and then casually inquiring about the favor a second later. He still appeared reserved, but hearing Storm's name seemed to have put him somewhat at ease.

"I'm afraid it's not quite that simple," Rogue shook her head at his hopeful thinking.

From what she gathered, it was an awfully big favor he owed Storm and he was supposed to know as much. Indeed, he looked resigned but not all that surprised.

"So what's it den?"

"…should we get out of here?" she asked, eyeing their dark surroundings.

"_Oui_, most likely should," he agreed. "I ain' gonna be able to come out gamblin' no more, looks like…probably thanks t' you askin' round bout me…"

"Well you're not easy t' find…sorry if I caused that back there," she added, though she still didn't understand.

"Eh, it was only a matter o' time 'fore dey found out…Henri's been warnin' me fo' days not t' go out- not supposed t' be here, strictly speakin'. Den dere was _you_ and o' course we thought y' were an assassin," he waved his hand in a careless manner.

"Assassin?!"

"_Oui_. Long story. So we can go back t' my place…gonna have t' be careful, dough - Bella mightta sent someone to watch de roads…" he ran a hand through his hair contemplatively now, clearly less than amused with how complicated things had gotten so quickly.

"We can go to my hotel," she offered.

"Well dat's a proposition no man can turn down," he smirked, eyeing her up and down.

"You're disgusting"

"Dis Cajun is a lot of things," he merely smirked. "Lead de way."

"Well…I don't know where we are?"

"Right, right…"

He had apparently forgotten that not everyone has a vast knowledge of back-alley New Orleans. Instead, she told him which hotel she was staying at and he was the one to lead the way.

"Nice digs," he nodded of the reasonably sized but plush room. "Stormy set you up? How come she wasn't the one to come down? - wouldn't mind seein' her and we couldda skipped de whole misunderstanding."

'Misunderstanding' seemed, to Rogue, to be a light way of wording the fact that he'd thrust her into a wall by her neck. She chose not to linger over semantics, though, since they were amicable once again.

"She's busy teaching"

"Ah, right….could use a holiday, though, I'm sure"

"Always…she doesn't really have time to now, though. A lot's been goin' on."

"I bet," Remy nodded - he'd heard a bit of what had been going on along the East Coast lately.

They fell quiet standing in the room, and Rogue finally took a moment to congratulate herself for finding Remy and getting him to come along with her. Granted, it didn't seem like he had the option of going to his own house just yet, but it was still a win for her.

"So.." he sighed, done looking around and taking in the room. "So y' some kindda telekinetic _femme_?…cuz telepathic tends t' come wit' dat an' I don't usually like spooks," he eyed her warily.

"No, I'm neither," Rogue denied after she realized he assumed this from what he'd seen in the alley. "I could only do that because it was metal. It's a….borrowed power."

He rose his eyebrow at this, unsure what she could mean.

"Borrowed?" he asked skeptically.

"…I can absorb mutants' powers if I touch them. There's some people I've touched for kind of a long time, and those powers just seemed to stick around."

Rather than hesitant, he looked quite impressed now.

"Well I ain't complaining'. Don' usually get myself in spots dat sticky, so I'm glad y' were around when I made de mistake of givin' Bella de benefit of de doubt. What can I say….a woman scorned an' all," he shrugged, crossing to a chair and dropping into it.

"She seemed a hell of a lot more than a woman scorned," Rogue told him knowingly.

Remy nodded fairly but otherwise ignored the comment.

"It occurs t' me dat you know me but I haven't had the pleasure of a proper introduction," he told her suddenly.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Rogue."

He eyed her for a moment at this, deciding if he believed this to be a real name. She let him draw his own conclusions to that one.

"Well den…might as well get down t' business now. What's Stormy need? Somethin' big need stealin'?" he asked.

For the first time his tone varied beyond bored and mildly interested. He sounded practically giddy at the idea of stealing something important for Storm.

"Ah, no," she shook her head.

Apparently Scott hadn't been kidding with his mutterings about a 'dangerous thief.'

"Well don' leave a boy in suspense," he sighed, still looking content.

Rogue personally disagreed with his use of the word "boy" because he was clearly all man…

She mentally shook herself.

"She wants you to come to New York," she began bluntly.

His face dropped a bit but she hoped this wasn't about to get hard…perhaps he was merely just surprised?

"Like I said, a lot's been going on…some people have died…"

"Oh, well, dere's a good selling point," Remy rolled his eyes as he dragged a hand through his hair.

"Did you know Dr. Gray?" Rogue asked softly.

"Jeany?" Remy's eyebrows popped up.

"A few years ago," she confirmed with a small nod

He took a quiet moment to process this. He hadn't known her as well as he'd known Storm - _her_ he had known for a long time via his father - but he'd met her more than once and flirted shamelessly….she was a nice woman. He was momentarily shocked that he hadn't heard this already, but that's what you get when you become a glorified drifter…

"Anyway, the school's short-staffed so she wants you to come on as extra security…and stuff."

He met her eye and she knew he rightfully took "and stuff" to translate to "X-Men business."

He whistled lowly at this.

"Damn, she don' hold out when she's callin' in favors, eh?"

Still, he didn't seem all too concerned about Storm cashing in her favor….certainly less troubled than he'd been about this Nathaniel. Her back demanded answers to that, but she thought maybe it was best to take things one at a time with him.

"She seems to think this favor equals whatever she did for you…do you mind if I ask what?"

Remy took a moment to be grateful that Storm wasn't spreading his business around, even in his absence.

"…Stormy took me in t' give me a place t' stay an' take care o' me when no one else I knew would…"

He'd been young and stupid, making his life's biggest, most haunting mistake in his desperate search for help…

"Sounds like Storm," Rogue nodded with a smile.

They lapsed into mutual silence for a minute, thinking of their friend.

"So…how long does she need me 'round?" Remy asked, feeling somewhat surprised and a bit proud Storm reached out to him for this.

"…sounds pretty open-ended to me," Rogue answered non-helpfully. "She seemed to be under the impression you might not actually have a place to stay," she added, frowning since that didn't seem the case.

Remy seem neither amused nor offended by the statement of Storm's assumptions, though.

"Thoughtful," he nodded instead.

"Yeah…so?"

"So when's this favor-repayin' suppose t' start?" he sighed, thumbing the corner of the book she had sitting on the little table.

"Umm…now?" she suggested.

Scott would be surprised if she came back after several days - she knew he doubted how well she'd pull this off. It would be nice to show him wrong.

"Well it's de middle of the night, _chere_," he grinned lazily.

She swore she'd seen his casual look falter for a moment, however.

"Well, okay, not right this second," she amended with a roll of her eyes. "You can crash here if it's safer."

"_Merci_"

"_De_ _rien_," Rogue responded in turn.

"Ah, y' speak French, _belle_," his grin grew a bit - it was always easy to fall back into the habit of flirting.

"Only a little," she admitted, yawning.

"Eventful night, _non_?"

He go up, too, stretching and looking around.

"A little excitement never hurt anyone, I guess," she shrugged - crazy events, however dangerous, were unfortunately not that new.

He chuckled at that.

"….are we safe?" she felt it prudent to check in a serious voice. "I mean, is that girl Bella gonna bust in the door with guns blazing?"

"_Non_, I'm sure she's home nursin' her pride fo' now…"

Rogue nodded and grabbed some things from her dufflebag before shuffling to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. She took her time washing up and shot Scott a text to say she was with Remy.

Frowning, she reread his response before opening the bathroom.

**Good job. Don't let your guard down - stay wary. Be safe and let us know what the plan is soon.**

Stay wary? Remy seemed perfectly fine to her. Although, taking into account the establishment she'd found him in, she did believe he was of the rough sort...plus there was the fact that he'd physically assaulted her...

Maybe it was his fondness for Storm that was painting her a more agreeable picture of Remy LeBeau than Scott was accustomed to.

Should she be more worried about sharing a room with him? No, Storm wouldn't have sent her to get someone who was going to attack when her guard was down... She stopped when she walked out of the bathroom, and she got a better idea for what she was to be wary of. Remy had made himself comfortable on the bed, ankles crossed while he sat against the headboard casually.

"…what're you doing?" she rose an eyebrow at him.

"Thought we were getting' ready fo' bed," he shrugged.

Rogue was taken aback by his presumption. Granted, her good manners didn't want to make him sleep on the couch, but her social etiquette reasoned that he shouldn't be assuming she was going to let a strange man into her bed…after all, _she_ was the one giving him a place to stay.

"Don' wanna cuddle with ole' Remy LeBeau?" he smirked, setting aside the hotel guide he'd been flipping through just to see what kind of places the hotel recommended to visitors.

"I don't think so, Cajun"

"Y' wound me," he continued grinning.

"I don't know what kindda girls you're used to," she teased, "but I don't share my bed with strange men."

_'Or anyone_,' a voice in her head reminded her wryly.

"Y' ain' no girl, _chere_ - yo' a woman," he informed her, looking like he clearly meant to earn points with that compliment. "C'mon, I'm not all bad."

She'd gotten closer to the bed to set her folded clothes next to her bag, so he shifted a little closer to the edge of the bed and snaked his arms around her playfully to pull her closer and try to charm her into letting him stay on the bed. Flirting and charm was always the first go-to.

Rogue tensed - no one touched her like this.

Even though she had control now, people at home were too used to skirting her and avoiding even casual contact with her. Besides Logan, no one at the mansion touched her. She knew they didn't realize it, but it was the thing that made her hate being there. And now she was here and he was touching her with no qualms…

She planted her hands on his shoulders to push him off, but he was strong and obviously thought she was just trying to be playful.

"I promise t' be de perfect gentleman," he smirked, rubbing a hand slowly over her lower back.

For as much as this was the kind of casual contact she wanted, Rogue didn't know how to react when it was coming from a near-stranger.

"Cut it out," she shoved at him.

Remy got a hint of something then that made him reel back slightly, and he relaxed his hold on her to eye her curiously, but she wasn't paying attention to him.

"C'mon; I wont bite…unless of course y' ask nicely"

"…fine. You stay on **this** side," she pointed a finger sternly at him.

"_Bien_" he readily agreed.

He watched curiously as Rogue, clearly flustered, went to turn off the light and carefully make her way back to the other side of the bed.

People didn't normally react like that…not that he expected her to want to fall into bed with him - she was meant to be here for work, after all - but who didn't like a little flirting and petting? In all honesty, people typically enjoyed flirting with him. Instead, she'd been earnest in telling him to stop. He might've been wrong but he couldn't sworn his empathic powers had felt a little fear…

"Rogue?" he asked into the darkness a minute or two after the bed had sank on her side.

"Hmm?"

"…y' got a man at home?" he asked, since this was the first thing that made sense to explain her reaction.

She actually snorted at that.

"No"

"How come?" he frowned; he didn't see why it was _that_ funny. "You int' girls? Cuz that's hot," he grinned into the dark, enjoying the visual.

A hand came out of the dark to hit his arm.

"No! I just….don't"

"Oh…figured y' had a man at home so y' didn' wan' me touchin' y'…"

Rogue hummed her acknowledgement that she'd heard him and peered over her shoulder at him through the dark, able to make out his profile since her eyes had adjusted to the minimal light. His eyes were open, his red irises faintly visible, though they weren't glinting as they had in the alley.

The scene from the alley played in her head again, reminding her he could be dangerous at times, and she rolled over to face away from him.

"…o' maybe y' just afraid t' give in t' my devilish charm."

"You're full of yourself, su- hey!"

She'd heard him moving and then he was positioned closely behind her, arm wrapped around her waist.

"Relax, it ain't nothing'," he told her with a chuckle.

Okay.. so maybe he'd promised to be a gentleman, but he was also a man in his prime and he wasn't going to lay in bed with a pretty woman without touching her unless she **made** him.

She'd dropped her hand to his to push him away but suddenly re-thought the move. If he saw it as causal, why not take advantage and relish in some contact?

'_Because you don't know him_' her mental voice, now sounding annoyingly like Logan, reminded her.

He used her momentary pause and spread his fingers to lift and grab hers, intertwining their hands.

"See, ain' so bad," he sighed, curving his body around hers.

So this was spooning…

She and Bobby had cuddled of course….or tried. It had just never been as easy as this because Bobby had fidgeted far too much, afraid to brush her skin. In the couple weeks after she'd taken the cure, well…

She pushed that from her mind.

Anyway, this was most definitely _not_ Bobby's arm around her and not his body behind her. Bobby had grown into his height more in the past few years but…wow. Remy was tall and broad with thick arms and, even from the short time she'd known him, was so clearly at home in his body. A body Rogue could currently feel behind her, his torso hard against her back...

She shivered subconsciously and silently cursed herself.

"Calm down, _chere_," Remy directed quietly, sounding a bit drowsy.

Did his lips just brush her shoulder? Or was it just his breath…

Contrary to his words, she'd tensed, though she consciously willed herself to slowly relax. She needed to be a confident, adult X-Man, not a silly girl.

Her mind continued to whir. Maybe they were too close…they really were…this was a probably a bad idea, definitely a bad idea…

"_Calme_," Remy murmured sometime later as these thoughts kept creeping up and keeping her from sleep.

Eventually, she did calm down and drift off into a deep sleep.

When she did wake, she plummeted into consciousness most unceremoniously and sat bolt upright.

"I'm jus' goin' t' de bathroom"

"What?…oh….yeah"

Rogue had jumped when she heard Remy's voice but then the night came back to her. He must've thought he'd woken her up moving and, indeed, maybe that was what had roused her...but she'd been so panicked because she'd been having a nightmare.

When she did have nightmares, they were particularly nasty. She had Logan's dicey and panicked memories of Stryker's, which now coupled with her own; sometimes, just for fun, her subconscious threw in the memory or two of Erik/Magneto's childhood memories of Auschwitz that she'd picked up so many years ago. In a subconscious sleep-state, her mind was able to weave all of these horrible memories together to make for some pretty twisted dreams. She often didn't remember them, like now, but woke unnerved all the same…

She flopped back into bed feeling very cold and wrapped the blankets around her for artificial protection. She heard Remy finish in the bathroom and quietly get back into bed. He stayed back this time, apparently thinking he'd startle her again if she'd fallen asleep.

Despite herself, she found herself missing the warm weight of his arm.

Blindly, she reached over and fumbled for his arm to tug it closer to her. He obeyed the silent request and slipped his arm over her back where she was laying on her stomach, and she heard a dry chuckle.

"Jus' don' wanna be alone," she mumbled sleepily.

That didn't get a chuckle, and when she next woke his arm was still there. Her clock read 6:28am and she was disgusted at herself for being awake. However, it was rather nice and warm to have another person in bed…

When she finally woke up to her alarm on her phone, she was alone in bed.

It seemed normal, but only for a moment.

"Shit," she cursed, frantically scrambling out of bed.

That son of a bitch had slunk out on her! What a stupid fuck…

Scott wouldn't be amused. Actually, he'd probably _like_ it because it proved all of his opinions of the younger man...

Shit!

She jumped when the bathroom door opened and a little steam came out, along with Remy, clad only in a white towel around his waist. Well this was a scene right out of a movie, and he had the body to fit...

"Morning," he greeted casually, scratching his chest. "Coffee should be done."

As he said it, it dawned on her that, yes, the room smelled of coffee. She felt silly for not noticing it sooner, but his physical absence had been more pressing.

"It looked like y' had used de coffee pot before, so I figured y' would want some," he informed her, handing her a cup full after pouring one for himself.

"Yeah, thanks"

"Y' know…I feel obligated t' tell ya dat dere's a lot o' coffee shops 'round here dat would get ya a better cup dan dis."

"I know, I did find a few places"

He seemed pacified with this and stood there in all his half-naked glory drinking coffee in her hotel room. If anyone would've walked in just now, they would certainly have the wrong impression.

Rogue was certainly trying to focus on something else, but kept darting back to his broad, cut physique. How did anyone get that good of a body? The only person she could really compare this to was Piotr, but he had his mutation on his side….maybe Remy did, too. A lot of guys at the mansion were in good shape from training but this…well, what she was seeing was something to aspire to.

Whether or not Remy realized she was looking more than she should, she didn't know. If he noticed, he didn't make a comment or seem to mind at all as he turned the TV to a news station.

_Well, with a body like that, who would mind. He's probably used to it_…

She suddenly felt inadequate next to his near-perfection.

"Okay, _chere_?" he asked, eyes still on the TV as he decided which news reporter he wanted to listen to, flicking between two channels.

"Uh…yeah," she nodded, caught off guard that he asked this just as she was about to take a moment to be a little self-loathing.

"_Bien_…we gonna get goin' soon, den?"

"Going?'

"…my house," he suggested, turning to look at her.

Right, he would have to pack.

"Oh, duh…is it safe?"

"We'll be fine," he nodded.

"Alright, I'll just shower real quick…"

She gathered some clothes, dark jeans and a more casual gray top, to take to the bathroom. She paused in the doorway….

He had given no indication that he objected to making good on repaying Storm, but she just had a bad feeling about slipping into the bathroom and giving him a perfect chance to leave. Remy looked over when the bathroom door never closed and met her eyes; he must've seen some kind of internal conflict going on behind them.

"I'm gonna be here when y' come back out," his low, accented voice assured her.

She blushed a little and nodded, disappearing form view. Remy would stay, but he would also rifle through Rogue's things while she was indisposed in the shower.

If she had been watching she would've been disconcerted by the precision with which he systematically went through her belongings, for he was well practiced in such things. Remy didn't have any real misgivings about her, but he would be remiss to bring her home if he hand't thoroughly checked. He suspected she was legit, though, because how else would she know everything about Storm? Given what she knew, it would actually be an impressive con, and that was saying something coming from him.

As it was, he found an " ", " ", and "Xavier's" in her contact list on her phone. She even had texts from Scotty - he scoffed at the fact that Scott had told her to be careful of him, and he was sorely tempted to send the older man a rude text via Rogue's phone but resisted. There were also many texts back and forth with a "Jubes" but that didn't ring any bells so he didn't bother with that.

Completely satisfied that his initial beliefs were correct, he put her phone back and got re-dressed in his clothes from the previous night.

Unlike Remy, Rogue did not leave the bathroom less-than-fully clothed. She dressed, put on some make-up, and pulled back her hair once it was dried, making sure all the white strands were pinned back, before going back out into the main room.

"Did you want to go now?"

"Yeah," he nodded after checking the clock on the bedside table.

Rogue lead him down to her rental car and allowed him to drive sine he knew the way.

It occurred to her briefly that she was glad she had been sent to meet up with someone that Scott and Storm knew and who Storm, at least, liked. Though she had personally never done so, she knew team members sometimes went to meet mutants unknown to any to any of them…of course, they didn't typically go alone for that. qAnyway, it was more simple to be sent to essentially "fetch" someone she could comfortably give the benefit of the doubt. He seemed a bit dark at times but, again, his open affinity for Storm redeemed this.

They drove for some time and Rogue didn't mind at first since they were passing some beautiful houses, but then noticed she'd seen the same nice house more than once.

"…are you driving in circles?" she frowned at him with slight accusation in her tone.

"Just checkin'…I think we're safe but y' really can' be too careful," he shrugged as this was par for the course to him.

"Oh…and do you still think it's safe?"

_"Oui_, I'm confident now"

The houses began to distinctly look older and then they were driving down what she eventually decided was more of a long driveway than a street. It became narrower than a typical street and was lined with gnarled tress.

"You've gotta be be kidding," Rogue shook her head slowly.

"Nope, dis is old home sweet home"

It was a mansion, plain and simple. Xavier's mansion had more floors, but that didn't mean Rogue wasn't extremely impressed by what she was seeing.

It was a towering, white mansion. From the pillared architecture, Rogue supposed that it may have been a plantation once -it certainly had the regal air of being quite old. There was a wide front porch and porch steps lead up to it from both the left and right…definitely stately.

"You _own_ this place?" she checked, impressed as he parked the car in front of the looming home.

"No," he laughed outright, shaking his head. "I had a little place o' my own near de Quarter, but I spent most my time here. _Mon pere_ is de head o' de house"

"Your dad? So you grew up here?"

"Most of my life, yeah," he answered lazily, no longer awed by the place as he had been when he was a preteen.

She'd gotten out of the car to follow him along a short cobbled path and up one set of stairs onto the front porch.

"We expected y' back long b'fore dis," a deep voice pulled Rogue's attention from looking around.

Someone had come out to greet them. A dark haired man with hair long enough to secure in a low ponytail was standing in the open front doorway. His hair held no signs of gray, but he was clearly quite older than the other man on the porch.

"Yeah, well, things got complicated," Remy shrugged.

"I see," the man nodded, eyes landing on Rogue and not wavering as he took her in, waiting for an introduction.

"Rogue, dis is my father, Jean-Luc LeBeau. _Pere_, dis is Rogue"

"Rogue," Jean-Luc nodded, testing the name out as he continued to study her.

"Dat's her…de girl who was lookin' for Remy"

The blonde man from the shady bar - Henri, Remy had called him - stepped up behind Jean-Luc. Neither seemed all that impressed.

"I take it y' verified she don' run wit' BellaDonna," Jean-Luc addressed Remy but continued to eye Rogue.

"Cuz she looks more willing den any hostage," Henri smirked.

Had Storm sent her to people who kidnapped women?

"She don'…but Bella did show up an' Rogue saved my ass when things got sticky"

"Y' needed saved by a _fille_," Henri snorted.

Rogue was becoming less and less amused.

"Shut de fuck up," Remy threw at him. "She's a friend of Stormy's."

"Ororo?" Jean-Luc perked up at this and didn't eye Rogue quite so harshly.

"Yeah…she used to be my teacher"

"Ah, so yo' gifted like our Remy…" Jean-Luck nodded, more things falling into place the longer they spoke. "And Ororo sent y' here? Does she need somethin' from us?"

"_Non_, jus' me," Remy shook his head. "I…owe her," he answered vaguely.

"Well if y' owe Ororo Monroe, y' best be plannin' on paying' up, son," Jean-Luc laughed. "C'mon in."

Like Remy, Jean-Luc's initial suspicious air was gone with this news of Storm. Remy gestured for her to go ahead of him and Rogue followed Jean-Luc inside to a foyer done in dark hardwood, which lent perfectly to the regal feeling of the place.

"So, tell me, how is Ororo?" Jean-Luc asked as they took seats in a sitting room full of brown leather furniture.

"She's getting awfully busy but she's good…somehow staying sane."

"Make sure y' tell her from me dat she needs to relax, and dat a trip to de Big Easy could be very relaxing"

Rogue wasn't sure if she heard a lusty undertone to that offer.

"…I will," she smiled anyway.

"How did she know Remy was here, anyway?"

"It's…a long story. I don't know…she just sent me down here with a few places in mind to check first."

"That woman always has her ways…and I know that school's pretty high-tech," the older man mused for a while and Rogue felt the need to move conversation elsewhere - these men seemed perpetually on guard and knowing someone had inklings of what they were up to wasn't something she thought they'd like.

Henri did the honors of changing the subject before she could think of something.

"So what's de favor, Rem?" Henri asked. "Something ugly and painful, I hope," he teased.

"_Non_…she just wants me to go up and stay at de school for a while and help out. Lot's goin' on up dere an' dey could use the security."

"…well, dat's all well an' good den…but y' ain' goin now, surely," Jean-Luc was frowning again.

"Why not?" Rogue turned a raised brow to Remy.

"Ah, I hadn' gotten t' dat yet, _pere," _Remy groaned.

"Well what do you mean you're not going?" Rogue interrogated.

"Now, Rogue, I didn't say I'm **_not_**…I jus' can' right dis moment…"

"Think again," Rogue shook her head.

"Now, _fille_, any friend of Ororo's is a friend o' mine, but we can't have y' startin' trouble"

Jean-Luck was not yelling, nor was he eyeing her harshly again, but Rogue knew there was a threat behind his words.

"Okay, okay, we don' have t' all get defensive," Remy interrupted uncomfortably - he was rarely, if ever, the peacekeeper of a situation. "We'll all get what we want. _Chere_, I'll make good wit' Stormy…just not right now."

"When?" Rogue narrowed her eyes.

She had been duped into coming here, believing they were picking up his things. She realized now she'd just assumed this, and it wasn't going to happen again. She wasn't going to leave and let "not right now" mean three years from now.

"I jus' got some stuff t' take care of here…dunno how long it'll take," he told her honestly. "Few days…maybe two weeks."

"No way. I'm not leaving without bringing you back with me"

"…den you're more than welcome t' stay," Remy jumped in, hoping to keep her pacified.

"She is?" Henri scoffed.

"_Oui_, she is," Remy glared at his brother. "She did save my neck."

"An' we're thankful," Jean-Luc answer that. "An' y' are welcome t' stay, _petite_. Like I said, if yo' Ororo's friend, den yo' my friend….till yo' not."

**Again** with the threatening side notes.

"We'll have t' get yo' stuff den," Remy stood quickly. "Assumin' yo' stayin'…."

"I don't see you've left me with much of a choice"

He shrugged with a grin on his face, and she understood he'd brought her here before breaking this bit of news on purpose. He'd wanted her to see that he meant it when he said he couldn't and wouldn't leave today.

"You owe me some answers on the way there," she informed him, standing,too.

"First he has some explanations t' give **us**, I'm afraid," Jean-Luc interrupted. "We have t' talk about dis business with BellaDonna last night."

"Right," Remy groaned.

"De _fille_ can come with me. Tante Mattie will keep her good company."

An elderly woman was now standing in the doorway wiping her hands on a dishtowel.

"Rogue, dis is Tante Mattie," Remy introduced with a look on his face that was warmer than any she'd seen so far. "Tante, I assume y' been eavesdropping' so y' know who dis is."

"C'mon, child; let de boys do deir silly talk"

The woman waved for Rogue to follow, which she did after a sort hesitation, and she heard Jean-Luc say something about the guys going to his study to talk.

The kitchen was huge, which shouldn't have been shocking given the expansive building. Tante Mattie gestured to one of the stools at the kitchen island, so Rogue took a seat while the other woman bustled around cleaning.

"Do you need help?"

"No, no," the woman chuckled. "Dis old lady is used t' taken' care o' my boys."

She seemed to be complaining but Rogue could see her face held a fond smile.

"Y' know, I met Storm when she was here b'fore…she's a very fine woman. A strong woman - she don' stand for nonsense…I like a woman what can stand up for herself an' get her business done. Tante Mattie's thinkin' y' picked up on dat trait wit' Storm as yo' mentor," the woman's eyes glinted knowingly.

"I like to think so," Rogue smiled.

"Well I heard y' managed to get Remy outta some trouble, so y' can't be too shabby"

They lapsed into quiet for a little while before Rogue asked about the mansion and the the woman prattled on about how many rooms there were and how many acres of land there were. Rogue was impressed to find that the grounds of the LeBeau home were more extensive than Xavier's, though the Professor's mansion was larger since they'd added onto it in recent years.

Tante Mattie continued with stories of chasing Remy around every inch of the house and all around the yards when he was younger.

"An' den de boy got it int' his head I wouldn't go after him and drag him outta de swamplands by his ear after he done somethin' wrong….course then he'd only managed t' get me in a more towering temper when I did find him…"

"Now y' just telling' lies, woman"

Rogue jumped when Remy walked in and caught them talking about him, but Mattie didn't seem the least bit troubled; perhaps this was because his chastising tone was offset by a smile.

"Don' you "woman" me, _boy_," she threw right back, shaking a wet dishtowel at him. "Go take care 'o what y' need t' take care of….and y' take care o' dis one -I like her."

Rogue was taken aback by this. She hadn't been under the impression that they were really getting to know each other well…they'd just been making small talk, really.

"Don' worry; I will. Y' ready?" Remy asked, turning to Rogue now.

"Yeah"

She hopped up and followed him out the way she'd come with Mattie, again taking in the aesthetically pleasing decor.

"I didn't realize I was making that good of an impression," she said quietly once they were a descent distance from the kitchen.

"Well, she jus' knows about people," he shrugged simply.

Of all the things she'd ever heard, this didn't even strike Rogue as strange so she didn't comment and followed him back out to her car. The drive was quiet and they didn't speak as they went back up to her hotel room.

Her hotel room, which was an absolute mess.

It was ransacked.

She froze in the doorway and Remy gently moved her out of the way with a hand on her waist. He grabbed her discarded coffee mug off the bathroom counter and it was soon glowing a faint magenta color as he ventured further into the room to make sure it was empty. She followed after him slowly, feeling violated as she looked around at the place. Her things were strewn about, the table was upturned, the mattress was askew, and the chair cushions were out of place.

"Bella," Remy muttered.

"She was here?"

"It'd be a big fuckin' coincidence if it was anybody else," Remy nodded as he surveyed the damage.

"Well what would she take? I don't have anything she'd want..."

"No information on your or Stormy?" Remy checked.

"…no. Anything like that's in my purse."

Rogue was sure nothing of that sort of important was in here. She hadn't even brought a laptop and had used the hotel computer if she needed the internet…

"How did she even know where to find me?"

"Her an' her lot are almost as well connected as I am in dis city; **_I_** wouldda found y' much sooner," Remy smirked.

"I'm not going to bother pretending I know what that means," Rogue rolled her eyes. "But I think you should be explaining…'Her lot?' I know i've stepped into something here; what's going on?"

"Well, yeah, y' did step in a bit o' somethin'," Remy affirmed as he picked up the table. "Y' pack yo' stuff so y' can decide if anything is missing, and I'll straighten the room up."

"While you explain what's been going on," Rogue added.

"Sure, sure," he muttered.

"Well?" she probed after they started cleaning up in silence.

"Y' gotta ask de right questions, _chere,_" he smirked, as if this was a game.

His careless attitude was starting to bother her since she was so keyed up from finding her room in this state.

"What's with you and this Bella?" she got right to the point while she started folding up clothes.

"Now dat's de jackpot question, _chere_…" Remy sighed. "Bella is an old friend….if she could ever be considered dat. She's part of a family of Assassins an'-"

"Assassins! As in professional killers? …great…"

"_Oui…_back when I was still a teenager, I crossed her in a big way. Her brother, Jullian, challenged me to a fight…he never did like me much. Anyway…my powers were erratic back den an'…well, he got hurt," he put it lightly. "De assassin's wouldda been after my blood, but deir dad an' _mon pere_ struck a deal. Julian started de whole fight, so dey came t' de agreement dat I would just be banned from home…the whole state, actually."

"You got yourself banned from the state of Louisiana?"

"Mmhmm, on punishment o' death," he nodded as he righted the mattress and bedding.

"…but you're here now," Rogue mused. "Is that why she tried to kill you?"

"_Oui_ you're a smart one, aren' ya?" he grinned sardonically.

"So…why wouldn't you hide if you're back? Why're you back at all?"

"Came back t' help Henri an' Jean-Luc…de Assassin's commissioned a job t' dem…if dey don' do it, de Assassin's are gonna sell a lot of information on my family's…_business _t' all de wrong people. Jus' happens dat de job ain' no easy thing so dey called me t' help. I usually have advantages with my mutation…"

"They commissioned a job…what kind of job?" Rogue frowned.

Remy fidgeted a moment,weighing how much to tell her. It occurred to him, however, that Storm knew, so Rogue could find out another way if he didn't divulge.

"Well…we're sortta in de business of thievin'…"

"You're a thief? Like it's your _job_ to steal thing?"

_'Is that really the best kind of person to have at a mansion full of kids?'_

That thought sounded a little too much like Scott, so she disregarded it.

"…more or less," he nodded, though he wasn't entirely sure where he got off with the _'or less_' part.

"So if you've been banned from home, where have you been since then?"

"Here an' dere," Remy answered extremely vaguely. "Visited Stormy for a bit…contracted work doin this and dat."

Rogue was aware that this was a highly edited account of the last few years, but let it go since she knew as well as anyone that everybody has their secrets.

"And what's the job you're back home for?"

Remy stayed quiet for a while and Rogue decided she wasn't going to be getting an answer.

"It's complicated," was all he told her.

"Fair enough," she sighed, finishing with her clothes and collecting other things from the room to pack away. "I think that's it…nothing's missing."

"Den dey're leaving' the thieving' t' de thieves…" Remy nodded, surveying the fixed-up room.

"Still feel violated," she sighed, looking around, too.

Remy nodded and patted her back between her shoulders in what he meant to be a comforting gesture for her. He was the thief, not the victim of theft, so he couldn't _exactly_ sympathize, but his empathy could sense that she was genuinely unsettled.

"Let's get y' outta here an' int' a room back home, huh? Ain' nothin' at our place gettin' broke into by Bella o' her friends."

Rogue nodded, imagining that the security at their mansion was impeccable and, at the moment, that sounded pretty great

* * *

**There we are. R and R =)**


	4. Offers

**Sorry it's been a while since my last update. Life's been busy. I was going to try to put part of the next chapter with this one so it'd be a longer...but I didn't want to take the time to do it tonight. It's been a while since I wrote this part but I'm pretty sure the next chapter is nice and long =)**

**so, without further ado, here's chapter 4**

* * *

Offers  
**It's hard to be free, but when it works it's worth it. - Bob Dylan  
_**

Rogue had loved exploring the sprawling city of New Orleans, and now she was enjoying the more subdued atmosphere of the home and grounds of the LeBeau mansion.

She'd spent a couple days there already and had yet to get exceptionally bored. There were plenty of interesting people, for one, and a lot of home to explore, as well as grounds to wander. In the evenings, when Remy, his brother, and his father were busy holed up in the study, she had taken to reading in the small but packed library on the first floor. It was full of well-worn but nice

furniture that she enjoyed curling up in.

Even Tante Mattie, who she'd found slightly intimidating and somewhat unnerving upon their first meeting, was entertaining to her. She also met Mercy, Henri's wife, her first night there since the couple were temporarily moved back in while the men worked. Rogue liked the blonde woman very much as she was spunky and took no nonsense from her husband.

"Idiotic, the lot of 'em. The LeBeau boys won't listen t' nobody...that's how Remy got himself in dat situation. Wouldn't listen to no sense and went out to see old friends even knowing it was against the pact...lucky ya didn't leave," Mercy nodded after a little rant about how she was going to have to head up North to her cousin's wedding without Henri because he was so busy with this job.

"Luck is one thing dat boy never runs out of," Mattie commented.

"You ain' t jokin'," Mercy laughed.

"Oh yeah?" Rogue chimed in, hoping to hear a little more about the man who remained a bit of a mystery despite the days spent in the same home.

"You women and y' gossip..."

The three women looked up to see Remy and Henri walking in. Rogue felt a little abashed to be caught trying to get the skinny on him, but she kept a content look about her anyway.

What other choice did she have? She was curious about him if he was going to be the latest newcomer to the mansion, and he wasn't chatty when he was around. Mostly, he spent his time with his brother and father talking in hushed tones. When he was around, he didn't say much but he did watch her. She could feel his eyes on her sometimes and she caught his gaze frequently.

Rogue had the the very distinct but strange feeling that he was succeeding in wordlessly figuring her out more than she was with him...the way he looked at her made her feel like he _knew_ her. His gaze was piercing, like it went straight to her core...whether it was just his eyes that conveyed the feeling, she didn't know.

What she did know was that she hardly knew him better now than she had the first night they slunk through back alleys to her hotel room. Hell, she knew more about Mercy, who she'd probably never see again, than she did about Remy, who was the sole purpose of her coming to Louisiana. Mercy was extremely talkative, like a more mature Jubilee. She talked about anything and everything, even personal gripes with Henri, as she had been when the men had just entered.

"Insult us again and I won't be givin' y' any dinner," Mattie threatened.

"Like y' can resist feeding anyone," Henri scoffed, heading in to give his wife a kiss.

Mattie grumbled about this but nodded to admit that this was true - she loved taking care of her boys. She soon had stew ladled into four bowls and she shooed them off to the dining room while she made up another bowl to take to Jean-Luc in the study.

"Nah, c'mon"

Remy's hand closed over Rogue's shoulder when she made to follow Mercy into the dining room. He ushered her to walk on and steered her out the tall french doors to go sit on the brick patio out back. It was getting a little dark out but the patio was lit, so they sat at the small table. Rogue was pretty sure she was going to get told-off for trying to get information about him from the others. Private people typically didn't like that...she knew because she had always been rather private, though she'd gotten used to opening herself to others after living amongst so many people at the mansion for years.

"Figure dey could use time t'gether before Mercy heads up to her cousin's"

"That's nice," Rogue smiled, curling up on her seat and poking at her food while it cooled.

"An' we don't wanna have to sit an' listen if she starts bitchin' at him," he added.

"Aaaand not so nice...but probably true," she smiled softly.

Remy smirked and dug into his own food. Rogue took it a little slower, since she found the food rather spicy. This didn't seem to have as much of an effect on Remy; she supposed he was used to it.

"..so how's the planning going for your job?" she asked, since she was reasonably sure she wasn't going to get ripped on for her conversation with the girls.

Remy seemed to find the question less harmless than she did because he leveled a dark, calculating look at her. It wasn't a glare, per say, but he seemed displeased and was evaluating her carefully.

"It's just a question," she shrugged carefully.

"Well, it's goin'," he answered, fully aware it was not much of an answer.

"So...it's not going well?"

His evasive answer hadn't displayed confidence. That, plus the fact that it was taking them quite a while, lead her to her conclusion.

Remy only narrowed his eyes a bit, indicating she was not far off.

"Sorry...can I help?"

"No," he practically snorted.

If members of the Thieve's Guild were struggling with all of the details to make this work, some young chick from up North wasn't going to make a difference, and definitely not if goody-two-shoes Scott had any hand in her training. The idea of it was laughable, bordering on offensive. Granted, she didn't fully grasp what their guild was...

_'Naive, chere. Real naive..._'

He was struggling to figure out why Storm had sent her, of all people, to fetch him. Rogue had useful powers, he's give her that, but she was rather young and seemed skittish at the oddest time. Maybe Stormy had resorted to the "kick them out of the nest and make them learn how to use their wings" approach with this one...

Rogue found his answer rather rude, and it must have shown on her face.

"Jus' let de big boys take care o' this one, and we'll be back t' New York soon enough, _petite."_

"...you're kind of condescending, huh?'

"Confident," he amended.

"...cocky?" Rogue pressed her luck.

"I'm a little o' that, too," he wasn't afraid to admit.

Rogue couldn't decide if she approved or not. This moment was showing her why Scott didn't like him, but she reminded herself, again, that he was a friend of Storm's. Storm was not an irresponsible child who claimed a friend lightly.

_'She __**is**__ the type to hold out for what she viewed as a charity case, though..._'

Rogue thought over this, but Remy didn't strike her as a charity case. She may not know much about him, but he exuded an aura that he could take care of himself. Apparently Storm had helped him out in a big way a while ago, but...he did not come off as an underdog who needed lots of help.

She needed to find his redeeming qualities quick because he was starting to irritate her.

"Don' get all offended, _chere_; I'm sure you're a good little X-Man," he teased.

"Definitely condescending," Rogue scowled.

Remy didn't have much to say that; he just shrugged and continued to eat. Rogue continued quietly as well, and she had to sit back and wonder if his condescension was aimed more at her or the X-Men part of the jibe. He didn't seem opposed to the idea of coming to New York to help with the team - as she had implied - but perhaps he thought it beneath him and what he did here.

_'Because being a thief is so great? Mangy little swamp rat..._'

Her mental musings babbled on. She was just offended by the chauvinistic lilt to what he'd said. As she had yet to really get a feel for him, she wasn't sure if he meant it all or if he was poking for a rise out of her...maybe it was a little of both...

They finished their food relatively quietly before heading back inside together. Remy ducked into his father's study again, where he spend the majority of his time the past few days. Resigned to the fact that she would be left to entertain herself, Rogue headed to the cozy library once again.

The following day was similar, lounging around with Mercy, who was leaving in the evening to head to her cousin's for the coming wedding.

"I know it's good dat they're taking their time planning everything out so careful like, but goin' alone to the wedding was never de plan…" Mercy rolled her eyes, lingering around with Rogue and Mattie a few moments longer.

"He'll make it up t' y'," Mattie promised. "Take y' on a little vacation."

"You make sure he does," Mercy laughed. "See you ladies."

She hauled herself up to go say farewell to her husband and in-laws to finally go.

Rogue chatted with Mattie a little while longer until the older woman got consumed in preparing dinner. She never accepted Rogue's help with the cooking, so there was no point in staying once she had numerous pots and pans going on the stoves.

Rogue passed-by the study; the door was left open, likely by Henri and Mercy while they went off for a long good-bye.

"… a government facility ain't usually our thing, an' stealin' a person just ain' easy t' begin wit'…too much left t' chance when it's a person…" she heard Jean-Luc muttering.

"But he's one o' deir's…he'll be willin' t' take any help outta dere…" Remy argued.

"From one o' us? From _you_?…_non_, he might not like it…too proud," Jean-Luc said.

Rogue couldn't help herself; she stopped to listen. From the tone's they were using, this was a conversation they'd already had.

"If nothing' else, I can knock him out. I ain' worried," Remy sighed.

"Don' go getting' cocky…y' been outta de game for a while"

"Bein' outta dis house don' mean I've been outta de whole game," Remy rebutted, and this time there was certainly some resentment in his voice.

"I don' like yo' tone…we're not leavin' anything t' chance when so much relies on it, so just slow down," Jean-Luc stated with finality. "Yo' mutation might not be a big advantage now dat we know all de details…maybe we shouldn't have called y' back…maybe y' should go to New York now…"

"No!" Remy snapped loudly. "Mutation o' no, I'm better den Henri," he continued lowly, "an' y' already said y' don' wanna spread dis problem around t' all de others. I'm doin' dis…but yo' right; I can't go blowin' up a government facility - draw too much attention here…"

"Exactly…dis is almost de most impenetrable place we've faced yet…an' dat's saying' somethin'.." Jean-Luc sighed heavily. "I'm worried about y' goin'. Now we know dis man o' deir's is a mutant who should be able t' break out - dat means dey have some way o' stopping him. I don' want dem doin' anything' t' y', boy."

"Dey won't"

"Always cocky…"

"De way y' raised me"

Rogue pondered all of this. Bits of it were things she'd already picked up on, like them breaking into a government building, and now she was coming up with an idea…

Clearing her throat, she moved into the doorway, knocking lightly on the door that was ajar.

Both men stopped and stared at her. Jean-Luc was sitting behind a large desk and Remy was standing by the window flipping a couple papers in his hands.

"Can we help y'?" Jean-Luc tilted his head.

"Well, it's just…the door was open so I overheard on my way by…"

"Ah…maybe we should go talk," Remy cringed, narrowing his eyes at her and starting to cross the room to get her out lest his father take offense.

"No, I just…I want to help"

The room was quiet for a moment, and Remy's jaw clenched. She had already made this offer to him, which was all well and good - it was very polite of her, which fit with the boy scout attitude Scott probably expected of his students. However, he had addressed the offer and turned it down, so what did she think she was doing offering to Jean-Luc, who was decidedly less tolerant?

"Dat's nice of y', but we can' ask that…" Jean-Luc shook his head, choosing to humor her because of her connections to his old friend..

"But I heard what you were talking about and I think I can help..."

The men shared a look that Rogue didn't really understand.

"C'mon," Remy sighed, moving forward again to usher her out.

"_Non_… what makes y' think dat?" Jean-Luc asked curiously - he still felt that he was humoring her, but she _was_ gifted like his foster son so it may be worth hearing her out.

"Well I have some experience with the stealth and secrets thing, and…well, you know how I told you I can kind of pick up mutants' powers?" she posed this to Remy, who nodded. "Well I sapped powers from one of my friends once on accident and…well, she can walk through walls…"

Silence.

Remy's hands stopped moving on the papers still held between his fingers and Jean-Luc set down his pen, eyes fully on her now instead of skimming whatever papers were splayed out before him.

"Walk through walls?"

"Yeah…or, well, anything," Rogue nodded. "I'll have to practice but I should be able to do it…I think."

She had picked up enough of Kitty that she thought she could pull-forth her power if she really wanted to. When she ran into Kitty shortly after the Cure wore off, it had been a terrifying moment. She'd been on the top floor of the mansion and hadn't stopped phasing until she was in the basement, plummeting right into the Danger Room, which luckily hadn't been in the middle of a deadly scenario. Hank had emphasized that she was lucky she hadn't continued to fall through the earth, and Rogue preferred not to think about that.

"That…could change everything…"

"How much practice?" Remy questioned.

Rogue shrugged, since it all depended.

"…any chance yo' friend can come down?" Jean-Luc asked, an almost indecent interest in his eyes.

"No…she lives in Russia now, with her boyfriend"

Kitty and Piotr had moved to Russia to recruit and set up a small off-shoot of the X-men in Piotr's native home.

He looked slightly crestfallen, but only for a moment.

"I don't know just what y' mean by practicing, but get on it and we'll see what we can do…it would certainly take care o' our problems…"

... ... ...

"Hey...y' don't gotta do dis," Remy told Rogue quietly a few minutes later when they left the study.

He caught her elbow in the hallway, pulling her up short before they reached the stairs. He glanced back to make sure Jean-Luc hadn't followed after, but he was still in the study planning.

"Yeah, it's really encouraging how you assume I'm useless," Rogue commented on his perpetual doubt sarcastically.

"I ain't sayin' your trick won't be useful, but dis ain' your problem so y' don' gotta do dis," he repeated.

Rogue took pause, then, to muse that he appeared genuinely concerned. He didn't want her to risk doing this. _He_ was risking it because it was his family, but he didn't think she should bother. She gave that a thought; it was true...whatever problems these thieves now found themselves in wouldn't cause trouble for her...

"...you're coming to be part of the team. Your problems _are_ my problems," she decided.

Wouldn't she help anyone else at the mansion this way? Well, okay, she might not want to stick her neck out for Bobby lately, but a team was a team.

"Do-gooder syndrome," Remy muttered, shaking his head, eyes still narrowed.

"That's kind of like a thank-you but different," Rogue frowned, turning back to the stairs so she could go up to her room and start planning how to safely manage Kitty's latent mutation.

"I'm serious," Remy tugged on her arm to pull her back around.

"...I appreciate you don't want me to get in trouble and all, but you didn't _ask_ - I offered. If I can help, I want to. You're family has taken me in so I want to help, and if this gets us to New York faster, then great..."

"Naive," Remy sighed.

"I think you're pretty great, too," Rogue rolled her eyes.

She freed her arm from his hand and headed upstairs. She supposed she _had_ merely disregarded Remy's refusal of her help and went over his head to his dad, but he couldn't be a little thankful that she wanted to give them a hand. His initial show of concern for her getting in trouble had been nice and all, but he was once again teetering towards condescension the way he spoke to her.

Once she was up to her room she tried to let go of her frustration and focus on Kitty. She set her mind to focusing on the incident when she'd run into Kitty and then on what it had felt like to move through the floor. That part was a little hard because she'd been a little consumed with the feeling of fear to focus on her body's sensations.

This was certainly going to take a little while...


	5. Job

**Sorry it's been so long! I was without internet again for a little while, but here you are with a moderately long chapter. Enjoy! And thanks so much for the reviews you guys have left =)**

* * *

Job  
"When we collide we come together."  
_-Many of Horror_ by Biffy Clyro  
_

"That's_ what's been taking so long?! You've been trying to master Kitty's powers so you can help him steal something?!"_

Rogue was unsurprised with Scott's reaction, so she just waited it out.

She had decided that she owed it to Scott, Storm, and the Professor to tell them just what she was up to down there. She, Remy, and Henri were going out to the facility tonight, so there was nothing they could do so stop her if they didn't approve. Scott wad mid-rant, but she'd put up with it since he couldn't actually do anything except lecture her to death.

"No, I've only been in on it for a few days...calm down..."

_"Why would I calm down? Gambit is about to go trample all over as many laws as he can manage, and he's dragging you along for the ride"_

"To be fair, I offered," Rogue informed him.

_"__**God**__, he's gotten to you. He's a con-man, Rogue! Ignore his wining and dining charm and just come home"_

"Oh, give me some credit - it's not like that," Rogue snapped.

The last thing Remy had done was charm her into this...more like try to bully her out in the beginning.

_ "It's always like that with him, Rogue"_

She rolled her eyes and rued the fact that Storm had surrendered the phone to Scott. Rogue had wisely called Storm rather than Scott, but Scot had snatched up the phone when Storm told him what was going on.

"Not this time -"

_"I thought you had more sense, Rogue!" _Scott played the disappointment card.

"Alright, Scott - I'll see you in a couple days. I'll call in the morning about the plane tickets...gotta go"

_"No...Rogue, wait-"_

But she hung up. He'd probably berate her for that later, but she was no longer interested in the conversation. Besides, Remy had just walked into the sitting room she'd perched in to call home and she didn't want him to know she was butting heads with Scott over this or hear what Scott might say about him.

... ... ...

"Damn," Scott cursed, tossing Storm's phone back to her and running a hand through his hair angrily.

"She'll be fine," Storm insisted calmly.

"It's like Scott said - she's breaking the law," Bobby argued.

Rogue had called late in the evening and unknowingly caught Storm just after a impromptu staff meeting. Bobby, Jubilee, and Hank had all stuck around to see how Rogue was doing and they had all picked up the basics of what she was up to with their latest recruit.

"You'll all have to trust me. Both she and Remy will be fine"

"Something tells me he's not concerned about this Remy guy," Jubilee muttered, pulling out her own cell phone to text her friend.

Storm gave the younger girl a small smile.

"Of course I'm not...ugh, why didn't you let me go with her?!" Bobby growled.

"Well, I was all for it," Scott muttered under his breath.

"Because he wouldn't like you"

Jubilee let out a short laugh here before she could stop herself.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Simply that he wouldn't like you coming to poke into his life. You're too...well, you're a lot like Scott, and Remy never liked him too much either. It's best she's there on her own...he'll be more apt to take to her, and not just for my sake - he'd rebel against you in coming here. Dark he may be," Storm sighed, sparing a glance at Scott, "but Rogue is out there on her own, and he _will_ help her."

"So...he's a helpful asshole," Bobby nodded in mock happy understanding. "He's a lawbreaking thief who one of our leaders doesn't trust, but he's got a soft spot for a damsel in distress, so we can put Rogue's life in his hands. Perfect!"

"Don't be overdramatic, and Rogue's not a damsel in distress," Jubilee scowled at Bobby out of loyalty to her friend who wasn't there to defend herself.

"She's right, Bobby," Storm cut him off before he could retort to the young Asian woman. "Rogue is a member of this team who is capable of handling herself. We should _all_ have a little more faith in her."

Scott looked a little sheepish but still upset, and Bobby was still flustered as he had been.

... ... ...

"Scotty didn't like the news?" Remy asked, leaning in the doorway of the upstairs sitting room.

"Hardly...I wasn't going to tell anyone but figured I owed them an explanation"

"Probably shouldda just let him keep assumin' we were barhopping in de Quarter," Remy scoffed. "Wouldda pissed him off less."

Rogue nodded, since this was probably true.

"Ready for de big show, den?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Rogue shrugged, trying not to betray the fact that she was pretty nervous the closer it got to time to leave.

"Well, go grab yo' bag den"

She nodded and hurried upstairs to grab her small bag to stow in the trunk of Henri's car.

It was about time to get on the road. They were heading up a little west of Jackson, so it was time to start the trek there so they weren't floundering around at the last minute.

It had taken a while, but she'd had eventually gotten the hang of using Kitty's phasing powers. She doubted it would ever be as second-nature to her as it was to Kitty, but it was as reliable as it would get at relatively short notice.

She had been nervous to start using the power, so she had sat around for the first evening developing a plan. It certainly wasn't safe to just start out trying to talk through walls...not only would she look like an idiot, but it was possible she could get stuck halfway through. Eventually she decided on using water to begin with. She sat on the counter in her room's bathroom and stuck her hand under the sink to let the water run over it. It had taken a lot of concentration to tap into the psyche holding the power, but, finally, after frustrating hours of sitting on that counter and focusing so hard it hurt the water trickled through her hand!

It was a strange feeling that had been slightly familiar after so much concentration spent on the time she'd fallen through the floor. It...tingled slightly. It was like the feeling of your foot falling asleep without the pins and needles afterwards.

She had been super excited and had ran off to show Remy...she'd barged right into his room before realizing that was rude. He had been slightly underwhelmed when he saw she'd only accomplished phasing water though her hand but was pleased that it was a first big step in the right direction.

_"Good job! Keep it up!" he had praised heartily._

_ Rogue rose a disbelieving eye at him, for the chipper encouragement was rather out of character. _

_ "What? I figure you run off of happy encouragement up at dat school," he shrugged under her quizzical look._

_ "Yeah, I train with Logan and you have to **earn** praise from him," Rogue chuckled._

_ "...who's Logan?" Remy frowned. _

_ The name did not ring a bell in connection to Storm or the school, and he was taken aback slightly to hear Scotty boy wasn't taking sole responsibility for shaping the fighting skills and ideologies of the students._

_ "You'll see, I'm sure," Rogue answered illusively - it was nice to know something he didn't for a change._

Steps of achievement became quicker after this first time she showed Remy her progress. She had started by phasing her hand through small solid objects, then she practiced moving through bigger things like chairs and tables. The idea of walking her entire body through a wall was intimidating, but she'd finally mustered up the gumption to just go on and do it, though she made sure to do it alone in case she panicked and ran into the wall instead.

Once that was consistently accomplished, it was time to start reaching the power beyond herself. She would hold Remy's arm and then have him try to pass his hands through something, and it worked! But if walking through a wall on her own had made her nervous, it was nothing to how she'd felt when she and Remy were poised to step through the wall into his father's study together. They had stood, hand in hand, in the hallway for a few good minutes.

_'De two of y' aren' on a date, ya know,' Henri had teased. _

_ "Shut the fuck up **right** fuckin' now," Remy hissed his threat at his older brother. "Alright, chere?"_

_ "Mmhmm"_

_ "...almost ready?"_

_ "...yeah," she finally nodded. "You?"_

_ "Oui"_

A moment later they had been greeted with the beaming face of Jean-Luc LeBeau. He was beyond please, and so was Rogue. She and Remy practiced quite a bit after that. They took obstacles at a run, had Henri lob (more like hurl) objects at them for Rogue to phase them through. It had turned out to be kind of fun, except for the fact that it tired her out. Both the mental exhaustion and the stress of remembering that everything relied on this ability was a little exhausting.

But she was well rested today, so she could handle this for one night.

"Good luck, _fille_"

Jean-Luc was standing in the doorway leading out to the garage when Rogue and Remy headed out after Henri, who was waiting there.

Rogue smiled her thanks and continued to the car. Henri was there with Mercy already, who was telling him to be careful or she'd kill him. Rogue set her bag in the backseat and turned to see Remy talking with his father and looking highly displeased about...something. Remy seemed awfully tense with his father lately but she didn't know why...maybe it was just the stress of this whole deal.

_'Well, just one more reason to get this over with_'

"Make sure y' take care o' Remy," Mercy smiled once Remy finally left his father's side and approached the car.

"No one will have t' take care of anyone," Henri sighed.

"Right. It'll all be fine," Remy echoed his brother's sentiments.

"Cocky bastards," Mercy rolled her eyes.

"I ain't no bastard, woman...Remy probably is, though," Henri teased.

Remy rolled his eyes and scoffed at this but just tossed his bag in the back seat because now wasn't the ideal time to start an argument.

"Let's go"

Remy propelled Rogue into the backseat with a firm hand on her back. He closed the door behind her and gestured for Henri to wrap it up and get it while he slid into the passenger seat himself.

"Sure yo' ready?" he asked before Henri got in.

"Mmhmm," Rogue assured him as her fingers tapped out a quick response to Jubilee's inquiries about just what she was up to.

She continued to chat via text with her friend as they took off towards Jackson. The two brothers chatted quietly up front while she stretched out across the back bench.

"...y' know _pere_ ain' gonna let y' have any part of the exchange," Henri mused.

"Fine by me. Don' wanna see any of deir ugly mugs again anyway," Remy glared out the window as he thought of the Assassins and adjusted the dark brown trench coat over his shoulders.

"Just saying - I know y' like t be part of a job start t' finish."

"All I want is dis job t' be over - yesterday," Remy glowered.

His red eyes smoldered as he considered this whole job. It pissed him off - all of it. Anything to do with the Assassins set him on edge, and he definitely didn't like being backed into a corner.

"Relax," Henri instructed. "We're almost done with this."

"Right," Remy agreed, forcing himself to relax.

He remained quiet and listened blandly while Henri changed to the subject of Mercy wanting kids soon. Personally, Remy wouldn't be fond of the idea of raising kids around there, but he let Henri continue in his musings. As his brother prattled on, he systematically began to release all of his muscle tension - there was no point in going into a job riled up.

Henri was getting into a discussion of how much Mercy loathed even the thought of homeschool, which was mundane enough that Remy should be bored into relaxation. However, he was finding it hard to release all of his frustration, and it took him a moment to realize it wasn't all his own.

He glanced at Henri, still calmly driving, and then twisted around in his seat.

"Alright, _petite?_"

She appeared to be texting, still, but the frustration seeping in through his empathy was coming from her mounting annoyance.

"Yah," she nodded, looking up in surprised.

"Who y' texting, den? Scotty, right?' he asked, glancing at the phone.

"No," Rogue truthfully denied, surprised by his otherwise impressive deduction.

"Who, den?" Remy asked, waiting expectantly.

"Uh," Rogue sighed with an award laugh. "My ex-boyfriend...he heard about all of this from Scott and decided it's his place to harass me about it. I _was_ trying to text my friend and he just keeps popping up."

"Turn it off," Henri laughed.

"Is that what you do to Mercy?" Rogue smiled.

"I plea de fifth," Henri chuckled.

While Rogue wad distracted, Remy bent himself around the back of his seat and snatched her phone from her.

"Hey!"

"Just wanna see what's on loverboy's mind," Remy waved her away.

In a huff of annoyance, Rogue freed herself to careen over the seat to get her cell back.

"Seatbelt!" Henri scolded loudly, laughing as he threw an arm out to keep her back.

Remy let his brother bully Rogue back into the rear seat while he skimmed the texts from one "Bobby." They were all along the lines of "**what are you thinking?"**, "**don't be stupid**", "**you're in over your head**!", "**you're getting used - how could you be so stupid?!**", "**don't just try to show off!**"

Rogue's responses were sufficiently snappy, but they didn't seem to be doing the trick.

"He's a really encouraging sort t' have around, ain' he?"

"A peach...what're you doing?"

Remy held up a finger to hush her as he had just put in a call to their friend Bobby.

"_Rogue! Finally! Jesus, what are y-"_

"Rogue's a little busy at de moment, _homme_," Remy cut him off. "She don' have time fo' yo' bullshit. You ain' her boyfriend no more, so quit the desperate stalker bullshit, and let her get dirty with de big boys, _oui_?"

He didn't wait for a response and promptly hung up.

There was a moment of quiet in the car before Rogue snickered, which prompted Henri to do the same - perhaps he had expected a very different reaction from her.

"Think dat'll shut him up?" Remy smirked.

"For a while," Rogue nodded, catching her phone when he tossed it over his shoulder. "I don't think you won yourself any points with Scott just now, though."

"Oh, so he's the tattletale type? Can't fuckin' _wait_ t' meet him"

"Like I said - he's a peach these days," Rogue comment wryly.

"If y' wanna know what someone's really like, just break up with dem and you'll find out real quick," Henri chortled.

"I hear dat," Remy muttered, leaning back into his seat to carefully relax again.

Rogue thought that over and smiled a little. In her case, Henri's words certainly did ring rather true.

The ride remained less eventful after that. The evening grew darker and Henri drove them in a slightly round-about way. He and Remy kept silent watch on all mirrors on the off chance Assassins were trailing them. They saw nothing the entire ride, but it was best practice to stay on precaution.

When Henri did finally stop the car, it was on the side of the highway.

"All set?" Henri craned his neck.

"Yup," the other two answered in unison.

No other cars were in sight so Rogue and Remy got out and trooped down the steep embankment to the ditch below. The dark and the distance of the ditch from the road was enough to disguise them, though if a car came it may be best they duck.

"Good?"

"Yeah," Rogue nodded.

It was dark but she could make out Remy's outline, so she'd just follow along. His eyes gave him an advantage in the dark, which was why this would work. They had to double back down the highway for quite a ways towards the bunker. They would avoid the gravel drive off the road and trek through some woods to get to the facility's compound instead.

They moved quietly, hunkering down on the rare times headlights happened down the road. They were both dressed strategically - Remy worse dark jeans, black shirt, and his trench and Rogue had dark jeans and black fitted fleece over her shirt - but they couldn't be too careful. A car rolling down this road could easily be someone associated with the facility, who would surely pick up on anything a little off.

Rogue was less at ease once they got into the woods. Disregarding the fact that the woods simply were a little creepy a night, it wasn't easy going. Boots were made for these kinds of treks, but the ground was more uneven here, so there was a lot of infuriating stumbling since she couldn't see. She ended up appearing a little idiotic next to her companion.

"Here we go"

Rogue couldn't read her watch in the dark so she so she didn't know how long it had taken, but they were almost there. Remy crouched near the tree line, so Rogue mimicked the movement.

"C'mon," he nodded after considering the building a moment.

Carefully, they left the canopy of the trees and crept towards the fence. The completely sealed and windowless building was rather foreboding, so Rogue took a steadying breath as they did so. Remy could feel her slight nerves prickling at the corners of his empathy, but they were reasonable for the situation, and now wouldn't be the appropriate time to comment on them anyway.

Once they reached the fence she slipped her small hand into his and they slowly stepped through. Then their next big task was sticking to the shadows as best they could, which mostly required that Rogue stick close to her partner since this was his second nature.

"Alright - gonna take a peek or y' want me to?" Remy asked when they were standing in a small dark patch against the brick wall.

"I got it," Rogue nodded.

She recognized that he was either being nice or condescending in offering to do it for her, but she decided to assume it was manners.

She stole herself for a moment and leaned forward for a quick look into the hallway. If someone happened to be around, they hopefully would miss it or else think they had imagined a flash of a partial face.

But Mercy had said Remy had a lot of luck, and it seemed she was right. Rogue saw no one. When she pulled back, she found Remy extracting a metal baton from his coat that he quickly extended into a BoStaff.

"Good?"

"Good," Rogue affirmed.

_"Bon_. Let's go den"

He held out his arm and she took his hand to ease through the wall. Remy immediately scanned walls and ceiling to make sure the security intel they had was up to snuff.

"Alrigh'...dis is the outter West hall, so we go dis way," he muttered, motioning for her to accompany him to the left.

He had camera placement memorized - Rogue didn't know how they'd gotten hands on the building blueprints because she hadn't been part of the planning back then. She figured she'd be disconcerted to know how quickly they got their hands on government documents, so she refrained from asking.

Some cameras could be skirted; others were redirected by Remy's bo-staff.

"Should we be concerned that we've seen absolutely no one?" Rogue questioned.

"..._non_," he muttered. "I'm thinkin' dey jus' confident. Dey obviously found a way to stop him usin' his powers, so dey think he's safe down dere."

"Any chance they leave him with no guard?" Rogue hoped.

"I'm lucky but I ain' _dat_ lucky," he smirked.

Rogue gave a rueful nod and continued to follow him to a set of stairs. Quietly, they descended into the dim lighting.

"We're close," he breathed. "I got a feelin'...and I'm good with feelings..." he added in response to a quirked eyebrow from her.

Rogue somehow didn't question this - his gut was probably rather reliable.

Only some survival's instinct stopped Rogue from making a noise when Remy threw out an arm to stop her and recoiled back around the corner.

"Guard," Remy breathed.

"Coming this way?"

"Seated," Remy shook his head. "He's got a radio...I'll just have t' be quick," he tightened his grip on his staff.

"Wait," Rogue stilled him with a hand on his arm.

Carefully, she leaned down and got a glance down the hall.

"Let me"

Remy opened his mouth and began to shake his head.

"Just trust me on this one," she insisted.

"Quick," Remy hissed.

Rogue nodded and, after a courtesy glance, stepped through the wall behind him.

He heard a small noise a few moments later and tensed again to ready himself to clean up a problem.

"All clear," he heard her call to him quietly.

Surprised, and maybe ruefully impressed at her speed, Remy rounded the corner. Rogue was standing there, and most surprising was the arm sticking out of the wall.

"What's dis?"

"A trick I picked up from Kitty. Took his radio, so he'll just be flailing there for a sec..."

"Good girl," Remy nodded appreciatively.

He saved another glance for the arm before turning to join Rogue in looking at the opposite wall. Or, rather, looking _through_ it.

A large, floor-to-ceiling pane of thick glass was imbedded in the wall. On the other side stood a young man - perhaps Rogue's age - looking surprised but not altogether frightened. He was Asian and appeared the right age, so they silently assumed it was Shiro Yoshida.

"...have we considered he might be in here for a very good reason?" Rogue asked.

She had been trying not to think about that but it came to her now that she was about to free him.

"Might be in here fo' no reason at all, _chere_," Remy countered. "...but it don' matter. We ain' here to serve justice; we're jus' doin' a job," he told her carefully.

"Right, so I just go in and get him..."

"Not so fast - _somethin_' is making sure he can't use his power in dere..."

"That cuff on his neck, right?"

"Let's not go assumin' too quick - don't want you gettin' fucked over in dere," Remy muttered, striding over to a small intercom to punch a small green button. "What's dat thing on yo' neck, _homme_?"

"It's blocking my powers somehow," Shirt told them while Remy kept his thumb on the button.

"Fine. Put yo' hand on the glass."

The young man did so, so Rogue reached in to snatch his hand and yank him out. He shuddered at the sensation, but seemed overall pleased.

"You're with the Assassins?"

Remy snorted.

"It's just a job," Rogue answered for them.

"Good enough. Pull it off," he demanded of Rogue, gesturing at his neck.

She was hesitant. They didn't necessarily know if he was dangerous, but if he palled around with killers it was safe to assume...

"No way," Remy shook his head when Rogue looked to him.

"I'm not running around this place with no defense.

"Dat's what _we're_ here for"

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck me?! We're gettin' y' out of here - _we_ make de rules."

"And if I don't want to play by your rules?"

"We throw your ass back in there?" Rogue suggested.

"Sounds good," Remy agreed just as casually.

"Oh yeah? And what'll the Assassins do if you don't get me back?"

He looked exceptionally smug. Shiro probably couldn't know _exactly_ what the terms were, but knew enough to be sure the Assassins wouldn't take failure lightly.

Remy eyed the younger man hard. Would Shiro actually rather be put back in than be at their mercy? Remy appreciated a good game of Chicken, but he really couldn't afford to call Shiro's bluff if it wasn't, well, an actual bluff.

"Do it," he nodded.

Rogue hesitated. She was not keen on the idea of showing Shiro he had an upper-hand on them, but she understood that what the Assassin's had on Remy's family was important. Ruefully, she reached out to take the metal band in her fingers to pull it quickly from him.

"Much better. Get to it faster next time, bitch," he shoved her to the wall roughly.

He clearly thought he had much more control than Rogue was willing to relinquish, so she reeled back to hit him, but Remy got there first. He yanked Shiro back and slammed him to the ground and clamped a hand around his neck.

"Yo' gonna learn some manners _real_ fuckin' quick," he growled. "De lady didn' risk her neck to get hassled by de like's o' you. We can always end you and say you got it while we made our escape. Hear dat?"

Still grinning, Shiro nodded.

Remy let him go with a small shove, straightening up on his own feet while Shiro hauled himself up, too. Next thing they knew, Shiro's hand was on fire.

"Whoa," Rogue backed away.

Remy dove at her and they tumbled to the ground, but the ball of fire flew down the other end of the hall rather than at them. It blew open the wall into another stairwell, which Shiro bolted for.

"Mother fucker!" Remy cursed.

"Oh, man, we gotta go," Rogue breathed, scrambling to her feet along with Remy.

This ruckus would doubtlessly draw attention to anyone left in the building. She started in Shiro's direction since there was a convenient hole in the wall.

"_Non_...cameras! They know who Shiro is, but we don't want our faces seen..."

Right. Remy had adjusted all of the cameras back the way they'd come, so it would be best to leave the same way. So they quickly retraced their path up the stairs and stepped through the first wall they came to. Remy longed to pull cards from his coat and blow through all obstacles because he was infuriated, but they needed to stay invisible, not leave a calling card.

"Quick!" Remy urged once they were outside.

They could see another hole burned into the side corner of the building and at least a couple voices shouting. They sprinted for the fence and Remy wound up a few feet ahead, but he pulled up short so Rogue could grab his arm to whisk them through.

That bit didn't quite go as planned.

They hit the chain-link fence and stumbled back on the recoil.

"Are you _fucking_ kidding me!" Remy shouted in anger.

"Sorry; I'm sorry"

She hadn't practiced phasing while panicking, so she took a second to focus and the got through on the second try. They were able to take off again, then, and dashed for the woods.

If Rogue thought it was hard to walk through the woods earlier, it was simple compared to running through it.

"C'mon - dis ain' a midnight stroll," Remy hissed back at her.

"I can't see! Jesus," Rogue told him exasperatedly.

She was stumbling over unseen foliage, which slowed her down. Now that haste was essential, this was more of a problem than before.

"God damn it," he muttered, wheeling around to grab her arm.

That did help to steady her a bit since he could tug up when she stumbled. Still, she couldn't have been more relieved when they burst out of the tree cover and scurried back to the road's ditch.

"Damn...dis ain' where we came in..."

Remy plucked a small GPS from his coat to find out how far West they had to go on the road to get back to Henri.

"C'mon," he panted, keeping hold of her arm to lead her along the ditch.

It wasn't wholly necessary now, as they were less frantic, but it was useful on the unleveled ground.

"Looky, looky...I'm glad you're both okay"

They whipped around and saw Shiro walking up behind them.

"No thanks to you," Rogue snapped, glaring.

He only grinned further.

Remy pushed Rogue behind him and punched Shiro in the face before he could duck. He reeled to the right but straightened back up with his hands aflame.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Rogue shot between them, hands up, once she saw Remy produce a glowing, magenta playing card almost from nowhere.

"Move," Remy ordered while Shiro couldn't get rid of that shit-eating grin.

"Just cool it, okay? This isn't worth it. We're all safe, so we're not enemies, yeah? And you do owe us," Rogue reminded Shiro, speaking calmly to pacify everyone. "We got you out; now just go your own way - it's fine."

"I don't owe _anyone_"

Rogue thought this declaration would be accompanied by a physical attack. Instead, he shot off into the air, leaving an orange, fiery trail behind.

"He can fly?" Rogue exclaimed, watching jealously at his simple escape.

"And left a fucking beacon right over our heads. Let's move"

Remy was right, of course. The streak of orange was noticeable in the dark. It had faded away the further Shiro traveled, but if someone had seen it they'd be heading to this spot. The remaining two took off again, hurrying along the trench as quickly and quietly as possible.

"Cars!" Rogue hissed.

She was a couple steps behind Remy now, and they both threw themselves onto the embankment so their bodies were close to the ground.

"Not just cars... dey're searchin' for him," Remy whispered.

They were peeking over the embankment to see two jeeps traveling down the road at a moderate pace. Two people were standing up in the back seat of each one with lights to pour over the area.

Remy threw a hand over her head to push it down, as if she needed the prompt. Rogue knew they were screwed if they were spotted and had already hunkered back down as the jeeps neared them.

"Dey'll be back," Remy muttered, getting up again once the jeeps had rolled past.

They continued a little slower since they were hyperaware, listening for vehicles close or distant. Rogue didn't regret coming along, but she was now thinking about the big ramifications of getting caught. Scott and Storm weren't waiting in the wings with the Blackbird to swoop in to rescue them or act as backup like so many other missions. This was not a sanctioned X-Men mission with her normal leaders accompanying them . It was just her and Remy...but they'd done relatively well, considering they ended up having to deal with a complete asshole.

She smiled a little, taking a moment to be just a little proud.

_'Fuck you, Bobby_'

"Alright, we're here," Remy finally broke their silence again a while later. Rogue scanned the area and didn't see Henri's car.

"How long do you think he'll be?" she asked, knowing he had planned to drive around so that no one stopped to see why he was parked on the road for an extended period.

"Couple minutes? Don' worry...maybe more den a few minutes if he saw de jeeps. Fucking Shiro," Remy slammed an angry fist into the ground where he was hunched down to wait.

"...sorry I stepped in earlier. I now hitting him again probably would've felt good," Rogue told him, joining him.

She had seen how mad he was and was surprised he hadn't pushed her aside.

"_Non_," Remy sighed. "Y' were right...we didn' have time for dat. Fuckin' _homme_ probably woulda stuck around to fight long enough for the convoy to show up and den flown de coop. You were right...yo' good at the peacekeeper shtick," he added.

"It's easy to perfect the art when you live at a mansion with a lot of kids," Rogue nodded.

"Ah, right," Remy cringed, thinking of how he'd soon be there were all of the hormones and angst. "Y' like de kiddies, den?" he asked simply to pass the time smoothly rather than sit and worry.

"Yeah...hated them when I was a teenager, but now I'm past that and I like to spend time with them...shit!"

They flattened themselves into the ditch again when another jeep whizzed by. The waited for the second one, but it never came so they sat back up. The picked themselves up and brushed off just in time to see more headlights, which had them hitting the deck just as quickly. The car slowed, and Rogue's heart raced...had they been spotted? She heard Remy shift next to her and watched his silhouette raise and hover for a moment.

"It's Henri. Move"

They scrambled to their feet and made a quick dash to the car. Remy yanked open the back door and pushed her in, surprising her by leaping into the back along with her.

"Go," he ordered Henri.

Henri did so but, despite Remy's tone, didn't race off but drove away at a leisurely pace. Rogue was baffled a moment but realized racing around for no apparent reason might garner attention - he must have noticed the jeep patrols and readied himself for this.

"Mind tellin' me what the search jeeps are for and where de **fuck** Shiro is?" Henri demanded frantically, which was a startling juxtaposition to the calm way he was driving.

"Mother fucker lost it," Remy fumed. "You're fine, right?" he finally checked with Rogue.

"Yeah"

He nodded and managed to maneuver his tall bulk into the front through the gap between driver's and passenger seats.

"The fuck are y' doin, asshole," Henri scolded when Remy kneed his arm. "Sweet hell," he grumbled as Remy finally got himself situated. "What do y' mean he lost it?"

"I mean he went Rambo once he could use his powers again. Blasted through walls with a pyrotechnic show...blew all chances of being covert. An' he just smiled de whole time - psychotic," Remy muttered.

"Just like someone wit' de Assassins to have -"

"No finesse," the brothers finished together.

They nodded together for a moment to affirm some internal assumption that Rogue had no basis to really understand. Although, Bella had shown no regard for subtlety those many days ago when Rogue had "met" her, so maybe all the Assassins and their friends were a little crazy.

"Is it going to be okay if he doesn't actually come back with us? I know you guys talked about exchanging with...whoever you're supposed to meet later," Rogue spoke up.

"Should be fine," Remy sighed.

"He's free either way, yeah?" Henri shrugged. "So we're not making a clean delivery...a little complicated t' do with a person, ya know?"

"...not really," Rogue chuckled.

Now that they were back in the car and seemingly safe, she felt rather calm and light hearted about it - everything that had kept her going felt like a high now, which she was slowly gliding down from.

"Right, right," Henri smirked. "Well, it wasn' like we were gonna keep him prisoner and place him in the Assassin's hands. As long as he gets back t' dem, our job's done."

Rogue nodded and they fell quiet for a while. Remy called their father to tell him they'd gotten Shiro out and he gave the older man a curse-riddled account of Shiro's antics.

"So...think we should just head back home or bunk over somewhere out here for d' night?" Henri asked once they had driven aimlessly for awhile to assure they weren't being followed.

"Time's it?...fuck, we might as well see if we can find a room. I don' wanna sit here and listen t' y' talk for hours."

Henri just laughed. He was significantly more relaxed now that his brother and their new little friend were back in the car and he wasn't just driving around hoping and waiting.

They were relatively quiet while Henri found a little hotel and ran in to see if they had a vacancy ready even though it was late. He jogged back out to tell them to get their shit, and the trio trooped in. Rogue felt a little bashful about sharing a room with two men, but they were polite about it - especially Henri, who perhaps was used to living in close quarters with a woman.

"Help y'self t' de bathroom, _chere_," Henri waved a hand in that direction. "Y' know, before we go stink it up an' forget to put de seat down...and whatever other horrible things you women accuse us of."

Smiling, Rogue padded over to the little bathroom and quickly washed her face and changed. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment. Now that the high and anxiety had drained away, she did feel rather tired. A little feeling of pride remained, though. They'd done essentially what they came to do, and it felt good.

Remy walked past her to take over the bathroom once she walked back out into the modest room. Henri was sprawled out on one bed talking quietly to what seemed to be Mercy, so she flopped right onto the other bed. She supposed they'd be leaving early in the morning, so she wanted a little good sleep before joining the world again.

She burrowed under the covers right around the time Henri told his wife that Rogue was a tough little trooper and flashed her an exaggeratedly-supportive thumbs up. Rogue smiled in return to this. Henri was really quite nice - nowhere near as mysterious as his younger brother. Though he had seemed rough when she first met him, now that he was used to her he was easy going even though he didn't know her that well. She liked that.

Once his conversation veered away from her again she rolled to face the wall and started to let herself drift off.

"Whattcha doin'?" she was vaguely aware of hearing a few minutes later.

"I ain' sleepin' wit' you...what if you forget it ain' Mercy in bed and y' try to get in my pants..."

This registered with Rogue as ridiculous, and she felt the bed sink in the next second. That jostled her out of her doze slightly and she realized Remy was in bed next to her, but she quickly decided she didn't care. They'd already been down this road and it had been fine, so she wasn't going to make a stink about it when she just wanted some sleep.

She was moderately aware of hearing Henri get up and use the bathroom but everything was soon quiet. She was almost asleep when she felt Remy's arm slide smoothly over her waist under the covers. With a soft, short sigh she brushed it away - last time he'd done this he had played games and, though harmless, she didn't feel like it. He said nothing, but his arm slipped back into place.

"Shh," he murmured, resting his head on the back of her neck.

Right, right. Friends could do things like this.

She wasn't sure if they were _friends_, but she reminded herself that people who had experienced touch their entire lives thought little of these thing.


	6. Flight Home

**Sorry for the big delay this time. I was ready to be uploading a lot more frequently, so I'll work on getting on the ball. **

**sooo here's the newest chapter.  
**

**Enjoy the holiday week!**

* * *

Flight Home  
"Though they crossed the country, the real journey was inward." -John Clellon Holmes  
_

Remy heard as soon as Henri woke and pulled things from his overnight pack to go take a shower. He lifted his head slightly but nestled back against the pillow swiftly enough. Rogue only stirred next to him when Henri clicked the bathroom door shut.

"Jus' Henri," he explained, reached to smooth a hand down her back.

Rogue stiffened slightly; she was facing away from him, so he supposed she was processing the setting. She relaxed once she quickly remembered where they were, and she rolled onto her back to peer at him sleepily. Her thick hair was tussled about, and as he grinned at the swept state of her as he propped up on an elbow.

Her shift onto her back left his hand to rest low on her stomach, but she seemed to pay it little mind so he didn't either. Instead, he gazed down at her thoughtfully in the dim light allowed by the white curtains.

She had been quite the surprise for him last night.

He supposed he hadn't expected her to be a completely inept burden, but still. She hadn't panicked or messed anything up. Instead, she knew what they'd been there to do, and she'd helped in doing it. She hadn't asked a lot of questions, and she hadn't even let his doubts dissuade her.

She had a quiet confidence about her, that was for sure...a strength that simmered under the surface, calmly but surely sustaining her.

He realized, laying there, why Stormy had sent Rogue. If Storm was too busy to come herself, of course she'd carefully choose who was to fetch _Le Diable Blanc._ Had Scott or one of his proteges come, Remy would have rebelled against them...maybe rebut the favor, even if it was for Ororo Monroe. Rogue was not of Scott's crisp, judgmental cloth; she was of...something else.

What with the distractions of being home and his prejudice of anything Scott touched, it just took him a while to see it.

He'd wondered why Storm had sent someone young and skittish, but he realized he'd taken her slow fuze as passivity - she _had_ spoken up to get what she wanted, after all. He could see why Storm liked her and why she trusted Rogue with this task - she was smart and patient...strengths that wouldn't raise his hackles.

He wondered if Storm had also intentionally played on his more chivalrous side. Sending a pretty, young face into gritty New Orleans ...what would he have done - left her in an alley? No, he'd always somehow favored a protective role.

Not that he currently thought Rogue was a pretty face who needed a lot of protecting. She'd already proven she could get her work done.

And he liked it.

Remy liked to be surprised. Some bits of her still remained an enigma to him, but he kind of enjoyed that, too. What he did know he liked was this part of her that was adventurous and could be tough...

Fully aware he did not always know how to read her, he slipped his hand across her abdomen to curl over her hip and hitch her up towards him. As he did so, he ducked forward to kiss her.

Rogue tensed once again, but Lord his hand on her side was warm. Part of her wanted to push his mouth away and get out of the bed, but another part of her did register that it felt so very good...

"Remy, what're you doing?" she whispered, ticking her chin down.

"Yo' a smart girl - I think ya know," he grinned against her mouth.

"Well, then, why?"

She knew it was stupid to ask. If it felt so good, she should just go on with it. She just didn't know how to **do** this whole thing. She never had the leisure to kiss someone like Remy - someone she barely knew. She had always _wanted_ to - to do it spontaneously and passionately - but now...well, her old fantasies hadn't account for nerves.

"Cuz yo' a smart girl," he repeated, "an' yo' sexy...and we're here, so why not," he breathed.

With that, he kissed her again and she allowed it. She even pushed her fingers into his hair and scratched lightly across his scalp. He shifted his weight over onto her, which once again felt delicious and somewhat scary.

"Umm..." she felt there was something she should say once he moved his attention to her neck, but she didn't wholeheartedly want to distract him...

The running water cut off on the other side of the wall next to them, which pulled Remy away.

"Saved by de shower," he smiled down at her - he'd felt her trepidation.

He wasn't so bothered that they were about to be interrupted. He was going to New York with her, after all; there'd be time to kiss her again if he wanted -or, better yet, for that spunk of hers to flicker up and _her_ kiss _him_. Yeah, he figured she'd be able to be quite the little tiger if she got over whatever her deal was.

In any case, he was pretty sure he'd given the little puzzle girl something to think about... ...

...

"She's a little young for you, yeah?"

Henri was out of the shower now and sitting in the room with Remy, who he was watching eye the bathroom door that Rogue had just disappeared through.

"Shut up"

"...I never had de impression you particularly even _liked_ her..." Henri whispered.

"It takes me longer t' decide about people - I ain' Mattie"

"Got dat right - _she_ can cook"

"I can cook," Remy rolled his eyes, smacking his brothers arm and crossing the room to retrieve a cup of coffee from the little coffeemaker on the small round table.

"So, what'd y' decide?"

"...I decided we should go soon," Remy told him.

"Was it hard for ya sharin' dat bed? Bet you wanted t' pounce right on her, grab dat long hair, an'-"

Remy threw the remote at his brother, who threw the beside notepad at him in retaliation. "Ass," Remy glared.

"Well, dat's a real original one. Congrats, brother."

Remy was closer, now, so he punched Henri in the upper arm.

"Don't start _little_ brother"

"Why? Y' know I can finish it," Remy smirked.

They were moderately evenly matched, but Remy nearly always won in the end, so Henri didn't push a physical duel.

"Still didn't tell me whattcha decided about our newest little friend..." he weaseled.

"Go to Hell... ... ...y' gonna come visit me in New York?"

"Not after y' tell me t' go t' hell," Henri laughed. "Yeah, Mercy and I will make a trip up. I'm sure there'll be something interesting to do."

"Don' sound so enthusiastic," Remy muttered.

"Sad t' be leavin'?" Henri accused.

"In some ways, I suppose..." Remy agreed. "But it'll be nice t' see Stormy again."

"Yeah, she's always nice...an it ain' like y' can stay here even if she wasn't callin' in her favor."

"I know"

"Whatcha owe her for anyway?"

"Long story... she took care o' me after dat mess I got into outta Boston."

"De mess y' never fully explained t' me?"

"_Oui_, dat's de one," Remy confirmed without further comment.

As ever, Henri wanted to know more, but he let it go since he had tried to push the topic before with very poor results.

When Rogue reemerged, the guys were finishing up their coffee and grabbed their things to go once they saw her. They trooped out together and it felt like the previous, hectic night had never happened. Everything felt good rather than anxious. The only nerves Rogue felt anymore were

This time with Remy driving. Henri was a more entertaining side-passenger than Remy had been. He was happy to keep up a commentary of various stories of him and Remy. Some were of trysts the boys had had up in Mississippi, likely inspired by crossing the boarder back to Louisiana. Remy was mostly content to let Henri take care of the storytelling, but he did chime-in, laughing, with a few corrections when Henri tried to deviate too far from the facts.

The ride back to the mansion seemed shorter than the trip out, so they were soon greeted by Mercy, Jean-Luc, and Mattie, and then the boys were whisked off to Jean-Luc's study. Rogue hadn't expected to be included on that anyway, so she took the time to call Storm and arrange plane tickets to New York for Remy and herself. Remy, with slight regret, agreed to leave the following day since he really did need to get out of the state.

... ... ... ...

"Got all yo' things packed, _chere_?"

Remy stopped in her bedroom doorway with a large rucksack in hand.

"Yup"

She scanned the room again to make sure nothing was left out, and she joined him to go downstairs to say farewell to the others. It was fairly quick business because Mattie claimed to know they would both be just fine, and Mercy and Henri said they'd plan to visit soon. Jean-Luc was the longest goodbye as he had advice and well-wishes to his son.

"Sure y' wouldn't like t' be on retainer or something for us? Dat trick of yours will be useful..."

"Ah, I'm not _that_ adept with it...I choked, after all," Rogue chuckled in a purposefully self-deprecating manner - it was a little uncomfortable to receive such a proposition from a professional thief.

"She did great," Remy defended her, "but she'd obligated to Stormy, not us. If anything, de Thieves owe _her_."

"True! But let us know if y' want some fun on our side of the law," Jean-Luc grinned to entice her greedily.

"We gotta catch our flight," Remy interrupted. "Bye, _pere_."

"See ya later, boy"

The two shared one last hug and Rogue and Remy left with a wave. They were going to drive themselves to the airport since Rogue still had the rental car to return. Remy drove because he knew the area best; Rogue noticed he drove fast and she wondered why, exactly, he was so keen to get away. Then again, there were people in this state who wanted him dead...

"Did you and your dad fight?"

"_Non_, why?"

"You just seemed kind of happy to get away from him..."

"Did not," he denied.

"Yes you did"

"_Non_," Remy sighed. "Doin' my best to get **you** away from him..."

"Am I offensive?" Rogue frowned.

She wasn't sure if Jean-Luc particularly likedher or not, but she thought they did well enough to get along with.

"_Non_ - yo' tempting. Jean-Luc likes what benefits him"

He stated this plainly, like fact, but she also heard what might've been resentment. She fell quiet a moment to think about this. She knew Remy got along with his father alright, but he had also seemed to run interference between her and his father once or twice...

"Do you not actually like your dad much?" she questioned, though she thought she already knew.

"Course I do - just know how he is," Remy shrugged. "Don' want him sucking you in."

"You sound resentful, not...loving"

"I turned out fine so I like he took me in - wouldn' want it any other way-but... I recognize he's manipulative. Who ain'?"

His rhetorical question signaled the end of the conversation, so she elected to just accept that his relationship to his father was a complicated one. It was also kind of a sad, disconcerting statement, but she never-minded this.

They got to the airport early enough to return their car, and then faced time with nothing to do but sit and wait for their plane. They chose to lounge in the corner of their terminal where Remy could look least conspicuous in the dark sunglasses he wore to hide his eyes from the prying public.

"So...what's the most expensive thing you ever stole?" Rogue asked quietly after about a half hour or silence in which they just sipped coffee

Remy rose a surprised eyebrow up over his glasses. Though she couldn't see, he eyed her suspiciously for a moment to gauge whether she was tricking him to open the door for her judgement.

"Guess," he challenged.

"Hmmm...I dunno - jewelry?"

"Not bad - close but not quite"

"What does that mean - not quite?"

"Well, obviously I mean it was a close guess, but no," he teased.

"But what's close to jewelry?...umm, I don't know..."

"Think about what's **in** de jewelry, _chere_," he led her, eyes crinkling in the corners as he did so.

"...gold?"

"Closer," he nodded, amused.

"...stones? Like diamonds or something?" she asked, gazing around to make sure no one was close enough to hear.

"Jewels and diamonds, _oui_," he nodded, trying not to sound smug about it - those had been good times, though.

"Wow..."

"Y' ever stole anything?" he asked casually.

"Nothing like **that**," she laughed.

"Obviously...but y' have stole somethin' den?"

"Candy or something from a corner store, but I remember feeling really bad - guilty," she smiled, hearing him outright laugh at her. "And I've snuck into a few movies...I guess that's technically stealing."

He clearly found that amusing, too.

"We come from very different places, _non_?" he laughed.

"...I guess."

"Y' **guess**?"

He looked over and she shrugged, a part of the smile still clinging to her lips. He let his eyes drag down her body, slim against the seat. He followed the subtle curve of her breasts and down the flat stomach her shirt was fitted to...

But he swiftly stopped himself.

"How?"

"How what?" he asked, pulling his mind back on track to the conversation.

She was oblivious to his small search of her - sometimes sunglasses had perks.

"How did you do it?

"Can' tell y' all de secrets I got up my sleeve, right?"

"Guess not..."

She just smiled and watched through the floor-to-ceiling window as a plane took off. Her stomach growled softly and she started to consider stopping in at the sandwich place a few terminals down.

"Wanna grab somethin'?"

Rogue blushed, a little embarrassed her stomach had growled loudly enough for him to hear, but nodded and got up with him to find some food. Remy simply paid for her sandwich without thinking, which she attempted to rectify.

"_Non_, y' ain' gotta do dat," Remy ignored her, pushing her hands away from her purse when she tried to repay him a few measly dollars.

"But I should"

_"Non_"

"Yes"

"I said no," he took her firmly.

"Cajun," she warned, pointing a finger at him but letting the threat hang in the air.

She didn't think it was all that effective, but he just shrugged and refocused to his food. Triumphantly, she reached into her purse, but she couldn't find her wallet - had she gotten ripped off?!

"Hey!..."

She looked up to complain but found Remy sitting next to her opening her wallet.

"...you robbed me..."

"I ain' takin' any money, am I?" he shrugged innocently.

Rogue rolled her eyes and tried to remember his hand reaching into her purse, but she couldn't; she'd been right there, her hands next to his, and she'd had no idea. She supposed that's what a girl got for hanging out with a thief, so she just sat back and kept an eye on him. In the grand scheme of things, she supposed him lifting her wallet wasn't all that bad.

"Marie?" he murmured, reading her license.

She shifted and pulled her knees up to cross and set her sandwich on.

"...well, Rogue's not my given name," she pointed out needlessly.

"Course...sorry," he muttered; he sensed some trepidation and assumed he'd stepped onto a sore subject.

"It's okay...people just don't really call me that anymore," she mused.

Logan did once in a while when he was being really serious, and the professor did sometimes, too, but that was it.

"Mmm, I know how dat goes," he nodded - plenty of people called him Gambit and nothing more. "So...when did you become de Rogue?" he dared to ask.

"...back in Mississippi I was kissing my boyfriend when my powers manifested - he was in a coma for weeks after that…"

"_Merde_…"

"I know; it's awful," she diverted her eyes.

"Hazard of our genetics….can't tell y' how many things I blew up before I could get some control …some people got kindda hurt…"

"…I'm sorry," she sighed - blowing up everything you touched had to have been scary.

"S'okay; it's grown on me, to say de least," he grinned, and they both had a little chuckle at that.

"So I ran away from Mississippi and took the name...and I just kept it even after I got control."

"An' when was dat?" he asked around a small mouthful.

"...in the Spring..."

"Not even a year ago?" he coughed, surprised by the information.

"Yeah," she blushed.

"So...wait, what? Could y' touch before dat?"

"Only for a second or two..." she admitted.

He let out a low whistle.

"Dat's rough"

"You have no idea," Rogue sighed.

"So how'd y' find out how to control it?" he asked curiously - he knew his old struggles and trial-and-error with his own mutation.

"That's a really long story - _really_ long"

"Mmkay," Remy backed off since his story was long, too, and he wouldn't want to share right now either. "So have... y' ever been with a man?" he questioned.

He was starting to think he was understanding a few things that had seemed rather odd about her. Understanding and wondering how wrongly he might've acted...

Rogue rolled her eyes, somehow unsurprised his mind had made that leap.

"Well almost two years ago I took The Cure," she admitted bashfully, looking determinedly away from him.

"Yeah, I heard bout dem testing with dat up East... Guess I can' blame y' for wantin' it," he nodded fairly.

He had scoffed at the idea of the cure when it first made the news, but that was just for himself...he'd met some mutants in his day that would've wanted it to get rid of physical mutations. His eyes, which were still a sore point with him on occasion, were small potatoes compared to some of the obvious bodily mutations others had. Rogue's particular situation highlighted a perfectly good reason why it might have actually been a good idea for some.

"Anyway, for a couple weeks I could touch so Bobby and I….but it was…" she trailed off, not sure what to divulge about it.

In all honesty, it had been fumbling and awkward. Bobby had been over-sure, but then when it came to the moment he hadn't been able to live up. She supposed maybe that's just how first-times were...or maybe they'd both just been so surprised at actually being able to touch. Either way, their afternoon together alone in his room had turned out to be one she didn't look back on fondly, but she didn't want to say it all aloud to Remy - she'd been bashful enough just telling Jubilee.

The look on her face must've told Remy everything that she wasn't saying.

"…was it good fo' you?"

This seemed like a personal, even invasive, question but coming from Remy it didn't seem really lewd…it sounded casual and almost normal. She was still bashful but wasn't offended, somehow...just embarrassed, seeing as they'd been kissing in the past 48 hours.

Sheepishly, she merely shook her head in answer and didn't meet his eyes.

"Nothin' t' fret over, _chere_…just means y' started with de wrong _homme_. Don' worry; you'll see someday," he told her quietly but confidently.

Rogue hummed her acknowledgment of this but considered the subject done with. Sensing this, Remy simply handed her back her wallet. She tucked it away and began to make quick work of her sandwich.

The flight wasn't unreasonably long, and the layover in D.C was thankfully short. Remy took to playing solitaire on the fold-down table in front of him, but he eventually swiftly dealt Rogue out a hand for Rummy, which they played quietly to pass the time of the flight.

Rogue was rather pleased when they touched down; it was nice to be home.

It was even better to exit the gate and see Scott and Storm - the latter was, perhaps, more welcoming but Scot was comfortably familiar, too. She gave Storm a warm hug before moving aside for Remy, who appeared genuinely pleased to see her.

"'ey, Stormy," he smiled.

"Remy, oh, it's good to see you," Storm sighed, accepting a big, tight hug.

"Hi, Scott"

Scott returned Rogue's small smile with one of his own and gave her a brief, one-armed hug.

"I'm glad you're okay"

"I'm just fine," she promised with a nod.

"Course she is...wasn't gonna let somethin' happen t' yo' girl," Remy piped up from their right.

"Well, who can know what you would or wouldn't do?" Scott questioned boredly.

"Good to see you, too, Scott," Remy greeted with no real indication that he was pleased to see the man.

They shared a brisk handshake that left an awkward tinge in the air.

"Well, we'll go to the baggage claim then," Storm suggested brightly.

She hooked her arm lightly in Rogue's and steered her around to go get their luggage, and the other two followed.

"So, how did you like New Orleans? You got to spend a lot of time in the Quarter before you found Remy, right?" she chatted idly.

"I did - he's hard to find," Rogue sent a look over her shoulder, which Remy merely shrugged and grinned to in return, "and I thought the Quarter was great. I had some fun."

"We didn't send you to the city for fun," Scott scolded.

"Tightass," Remy accused. "Only _you_ could go to de Big Easy an' not have fun."

Scott scowled and the rest of them didn't feel the need to goad him any further. They waited quietly for their baggage carousel and the two travelers moved forward once it started spinning. Scott watched and disliked the way Remy's hand skimmed over Rogue's back when he leaned forward to grab her bag and yank it off the belt for her.

"Good thing Logan couldn't make it..."

"You're thinking too much of it," Storm smiled.

As far as she was concerned, it was good to see Remy smile. He was typically friendly to most people - a charmer by trade - but he had few **actual** friends, as he did not trust easily. She hoped this would change soon, and that he'd find a real home at the school and with the X-Men. She knew Rogue was a good person for Remy to first be introduced to because Rogue knew the feeling of being an outsider, having felt like one for the majority of her adolescent and young adult years.

"I most certainly am not," Scott muttered as the two younger adults came back.

With a small smile, Storm led the way out to the Sedan.

"Logan!" Rogue cheered when she spotted him leaning against his bike next to the black Sedan with it's Xavier's plates.

She dropped her bag near the trunk and hopped over to give him a hug.

"Hey, kid - knew I was late for the flight but thought I'd catch you here," he grunted, ticking his arms closely around her.

"Yeah, it's a nice surprise! I thought you were out West," she told him, breaking the tight hug.

"That didn't work out as good as I wanted, so I'm back for a while," he told her gruffly, his displeasure evident. "Heard you were busy gettin' inna little trouble.

"But I got out of it," she smiled.

"That's my girl," Logan smiled with rough pride.

"Nice bike, _homme_," Remy nodded at Logan's motorcycle once he and Scott hefted the luggage into the back.

"...and you must be the slimy Cajun who dragged her **into** the trouble in the first place..." Logan eyed him up-and-down appraisingly - he wound up looking dubious.

Remy had thought this Logan might have been more reasonable than Scott, given how he was reacting towards Rogue's participation in Mississippi, but it didn't appear to be so. He was on the receiving end of a look akin to ones he'd gotten from an older brother or two when he was younger, which suggested that they might not be friends in the near future. His own reaction was merely to grin lazily.

"Logan," Rogue shook her head.

"Yeah, yeah...riding with me?" he nodded over his shoulder.

"No," Rogue laughed, since he knew perfectly well that she was a little nervous when it came to bikes, especially the way he drove them. "See you at the school."

The ride in the Sedan was quiet, save for Scott fiddling with the radio. There seemed to be a slight tension amongst the group due to Scott and Remy's established dislike of one another.

Logan beat them back to the mansion, likely to purposefully spite Scott. He must've made it known they were all returning because Jubilee was there as a mini greeting party.

"Chica, you'll have t' tell me all about it - maybe we'll have to have a Spring Break trip down to New Orleans?" she jabbered happily to her best friend.

"Movie night and a play-by-play?" Rogue suggested.

"I'll be sure to scrounge up the snacks," Jubilee happily agreed.

"Well, I'm surprised to see you back so soon in one piece...glad, but surprised," another voice joined them.

"Oh, come on," Jubilee rolled her eyes.

"Y' must be be Bobby," Remy smirked, stepping behind the girls with his sack over his shoulder. "I think we spoke earlier..."

Bobby glared at Remy.

"Yeah, I am," he nodded after a couple beats.

"...I'm underwhelmed," Remy appraised him from behind his sunglasses. "I expected a little better, frankly..."

"Alright, alright - Remy, I'll show you your room and we'll go talk to Charles?" Storm interrupted.

"Sounds good," he morphed his glower into a casual smile.

Bobby wasted his time frowning after Storm and the newcomer as they walked away, so Jubilee and Rogue took advantage of his momentary distraction to scamper away back towards their rooms.

"It's gonna get interesting around here - Scott and Bobby both dislike him on basic principle," Jubilee muttered.

Rogue agreed with a nod. She was quite sure that the above mentioned detesters of Remy would like him even less if they knew what she and him had done together the previous morning.

"Logan isn't a fan yet either," Rogue added

Logan was someone she certainly wouldn't tell. She wondered if she'd even tell Jubilee, who was not the most subtle in social situations

"Oh, well; it's always something"


	7. Changing

**Whoa! So it's been quite awhile since I have updated on here at all...definitely longer than I intended. First I was distracted by some other things and then I was just puttering around deciding where to go just now with the story. I mean..I have a big-picture in mind but I wasn't sure what to do right away.  
I've had the whole 1st half of the story written for quite a long time, but some of my plans for the story have changed since then, so I've been working on tweeking things. Part of me is averse to changing work I've already done, but I definitely thing I'm developing more interesting ideas so I need to just suck in up and change things...if that makes sense. **

**I've LOVED all of your feedback- I'm SO thankful for it :] Reading back through comments definitely gave me the motivation to change and upload this chapter.  
I want to give a quick, specific thanks to CodeAliasWave for something you pointed out about Jubilee in the last chapter. I've had a little storyline kind of going for her already, and I bumped some of it up to start a little bit now because I think you had a really good point. I tossed her in at the end of the last chapter to fill a role because it was easy, but I do have other plans for her so I don't want to bounce her back and forth between that stereotype and the other storyline. So thanks for point that out so that I was able to take a look at that and decide what I wanted. **

**ANYWAY, I hope this chapter serves as a nice transition to New York from New Orleans. I wasn't sure if an account of their very first day back would be super interesting...plus, since I delayed my update so long I thought jumping forward just a little bit with an illusion to the time that had past would be best...we shall see =)**

**And that's enough from me.  
Enjoy.**

* * *

**Changing**

_"I like flaws and feel more comfortable around people who have them. I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions." -Augusten Burroughs  
__

_ -that's just how it usually goes; some days are hot and other times I don't make anything for a while. Usually a charming smile can go a long way, though. Haha. Really, you don't need to keep worrying. You should come down and see for yourself- D.C. isn't so bad. I like it._

_ So could you stop asking me to come up and visit? I'm fine here and don't want to live in New York, and you're happy there and don't want to leave. We'll just have to live on long distance till something changes. I don't see how I'll ever want New York, though- I really don't. Scot and me…when's it ever been a good idea?_

_ I care about you and I really like you, so don't think it's about that. The two of us have never hit it off; you know that. I get that he's having a hard time, and I don't wish that on him or anything, but I'm not gonna be any good helping with that. It's not what we do…I don't even know Scott like that, not really. Don't be angry. I just don't know what you want me to do about any of it. That's not the kind of thing I can fix. _

_ I mean it, though- you should come visit. I'm pretty sure I'm coming off as a dick here…brothers are supposed to help each other with this shit, right? Just another reason why Scott gets to win the brother of the year award…I know he'd be there for me if the tables were turned, so you don't need to remind me. I'm sorry, it's just…you know._

_ Well….let me know if I'm going to see your pretty smile down here anytime soon, okay? I'll plan a good time. _

_ Hope to see you soon._

_ Alex_

Jubilee ought to have been grading some papers and finishing a few lesson plans. She'd come to the rec room with papers and her computer to do just that. However, the chime of her e-mail was hard to ignore, especially when she hadn't heard from Alex in a couple weeks.

E-mail was her main mode of communication with the youngest Summers brother. It was very unfortunate- she did like him quite a lot, and not because he was hot. Okay…the looks totally **started** it.

Alex was a few years older than her and he'd come to the mansion a while back for about a year in order to work on the control of his power. It had been a blow to his ego to come ask his big brother for help, so it had been a while before he let anyone get to know him.

John had hated him because he'd been hellbent on being the biggest rebel at Xaviers. Alex had him beat, not that he tried too hard- he was just older, darker…grittier. Still, Jubilee thought she'd basically just accept and ignore his presence to show some loyalty to her friend but…well, she just thought she'd be nice in the library and say hello. Little had she known that he had no real reason to even be in the library- he just thought she was cute.

And then Jubilee learned how funny he was, and smart, too. Mozying his way into the library to help her study was his way of making sure he had time to flirt with her. Plus, he was an artist and she had thought that was pretty hot.

Jubilee was aware she'd probably fallen for his image before she fell her _him_.

But she had indeed fallen.

And now he was living in D.C., which was ridiculous.

He'd lived in Chicago first and she'd visited him there twice. Then he'd come to visit New York for Jean's funeral- a minor miracle in itself, as he'd not been a member of her fan club- and she thought maybe he would have stayed. He did for a total of three days, most of which he'd spent with Jubilee. While that was vaguely flattering, it had been sad to see that all he had for Scott was a couple hugs and maybe ten total minutes of conversation.

Jubilee supposed the e-mail was not a big surprise. Alex had so much less confidence than he pretended and had even less than that when it came to Scott.

She didn't have full details on the brothers' falling-out or what growing up had been for them. She knew foster care had been part of it, but Alex was reluctant with details.

Jubilee just wished he'd come! She didn't know how to get him to believe that just his presence would be good for Scott. Even though she often thought of Scott as a killjoy, she cared about him…he deserved to be okay.

Somedays it seemed like nothing would be okay again.

First, John left. Then Dr. Grey. Rogue had taken the cure and been kidnapped. Logan came and went.

Nothing stayed the same. Nothing was stable.

Sighing, she leaned back and considered what to write to Alex.

Rogue was seated at the middle of one of the worn leather couches, where she'd been quietly watching a movie until Remy had joined her; now there was more quiet talking than movie-watching.

Jubilee smiled a little to herself. The Louisiana stud had only been at the school a couple weeks and she already liked it. She'd known Rogue for years and had never seen her cozy up to anyone what way- true, there'd always been reasons. Rogue looked so…well, something way closer to happy than Jubilee had seen her in quite a while. It was a little muted, for the girl had some trust issue, but still…

Jubilee's drifting thought tapered, and she smiled when she saw Remy's hand trail through Rogue's hair and, strangely bashful, Rogue pulled them away. She did, however, let their hands linger together on her leg.

On the other side of the room, she saw that Bobby was resolutely not watching the center of the room. He seemed to be staring a little too hard at the books in front of him and Sam. It was sad, really, the long-standing stalemate between the old couple. Rogue had reasons to be mad at Bobby for his boneheaded behavior, but still…

Nothing stayed the same.

Sometimes Jubilee wondered if Bobby actually still had feelings for Rogue. She didn't think they should get back together or anything, but it would be easier to excuse his rudeness lately if he was just feeling desperate.

Bobby disliked Remy- sometimes with cold looks and other times verbally. He'd lost a battle of wits with Remy the first couple days of his arrival and mow saved most of his complaints for behind the Cajun's back. Still, it was no secret.

Bobby didn't like that Storm had brought in a theif. he didn't like that almost everyone else **did** like Remy well enough- namely, Rogue. He didn't like that Remy excelled in the Danger Room, or that the Professor had made Rogue and gambit partners.

They all had partners now. The world was getting dangerous in their circles, and their numbers had to grow accordingly…partners in the field helped lessen the chance someone would slip through the cracks in a chaotic scenario…

Just another one of those things that wasn't staying the same.

Jubilee understood that they were growing up and had to change, but not **everything**. Why'd John have to go? Why couldn't she, Rogue, John, Sam, and Bobby be their own little motley crew of friends? Why couldn't they feel safe? Things shouldn't have to be crappy and unsteady….

She didn't know what to do about any of it, but things had to be able to get better…

She'd have to just finish the grading in the morning- she was **not** focusing tonight. Typing was for now…

_Alex.  
__I get it, don't worry. I just wish I could fix things- you know how I can be. I don't blame anyone, and it's not just you and Scott. It's everything._

_ I don't want to unload on you here, but I just feel overwhelmed. Scott's not okay, I doubt Storm's okay, a lot of students are scared, we're training more than ever, we've added new teammates….I just feel like there's reminders everywhere that the world's kind of dangerous for us right now. I actually find that teaching and working with the students is a release since it lets me focus everything on something safe and fun (well, sometimes fun…I should be grading now, by the way). _

_ I don't want to complain- I know it's not an attractive thing to do. Maybe I'm just tired…do you want some gossip instead?_

_ One of the new teammates is totally into Rogue and vise-versa. I mean, she's shy about it and all but they like each other. I can't wait to catch them making out or something because he's cute- not as cute as you, but cute. I guess I don't even know him that well, but I think he's good for her…or maybe anyone's good for her. I just want her to get felt up! Does that make me a pimp?…or, I guess a madame? _

_ Seriously, though, it's fun to think she's going to get to be a normal young adult. Not that she's __**not**__ normal, but she didn't really get to be a normal teenager, right? No late night making out, she had to be careful doing sports, she wore specific clothes, and she could hardly even use the pool with other students because, ya know…skin. And is it selfish that it's a lot more fun to go shopping with her now? It's just that these are the things it's fun to do with your girlfriends, and before it was always kind of awkward. _

_ This new guy, Remy: Bobby doesn't like him and neither does Scott (sorry for mentioning him) and I'm pretty sure Logan has decided not to either. It's kind of strange because I think they're kind of similar. Like…okay, Remy had his motorcycle sent here from where he was keeping it at a friends. The other day I walked into the garage, and Logan was working on his bike while Remy worked on his and they didn't talk the whole time I was out there pretending to look for my phone in my car. Shouldn't they have been bonding or something? I'm nosey, I know- so sue me if I like to know what's going on :)_

_ So there's most of the latest gossip. _

_ Oh, did I mention we all have partners when we're training or out on missions? I'm paired with Hank; it's a good match- he's strong and obviously smart. We've been doing pretty well. Remy and Rogue are partners, too, just for your information…they kind of kick ass. Rogue's good and always has smart reflexes, but Rem is like freakishly good at whatever we do. I don't know if he was a Navy SEAL in a past life or what, haha…well, apparently he's a thief, but how does that explain him being that way? He's still kind of a mystery to me, but that's alright…I think you'd like him. Sorry, I'm gossiping again. _

_ Anyway, I'll try to figure out when I can come to D.C. I really do want to see you soon, so I'll do my best to get there soon. I don't want it to just be for a short weekend, though, so I'll have to look into when we have some time off…or I'll see if Rogue can sub for me or something. I don't think she'll mind. _

_ …I should think about doing some grading. Let's be honest, though…it'll probably have to wait until tomorrow or something. Don't judge me as an awful teacher. _

_ Hope to hear from you soon.  
__Jubes_

Jubilee moved to send the e-mail but paused. She wasn't sure what she wanted to say to Alex today. Should she leave her e-mail at this, all gossip and mostly surface-level stuff with only glimpses of deeper bits? Or should she press on in talking about how much Scott was not himself and how his brother visiting couldn't possibly make anything worse?

Rather than send the e-mail, she moved her mouse and saved the message instead. In the morning, while she was in a new mood and clearer mind, she'd decide whether or not this is what she wanted to say to him jus now. She could change her mind.

With a deep breath, she snapped her computer shut. Grading was **so** not getting done tonight. She considered hitting an early bedtime, but instead she hauled herself up and shuffled over to the couch to plop down next to Rogue on the worn leather of the couch. Wordlessly, she laid her head on Rogue's shoulder.

Rogue did not voice her surprise, but she rose her eyebrows before gently placing an arm around Jubilee's shoulders. She cast a glance at Remy, but he merely have a very small shrug with one shoulder and leaned back just a little bit so that Rogue could have room to comfort her friend. He didn't know what was going on, but he assumed the two girlfriends were communicating some unspoken message that they may both understand.

Remy felt that he was intruding on something, yet he wasn't one to easily feel uncomfortable so he calmly stayed where he sat on the couch…arm around the back of the couch and grazing Rogue's shoulders. If she wanted him out of the way, he felt sure she would tell him so or, at the very least, lean away.

Instead, she just cocked her head to rest atop of Jubilee's and said nothing. They both kept watching the movie, so Remy did, too. He noted that the musical was significantly less interesting when he wasn't happily whispering to Rogue.

"Do you ever think things will just never get better around here?" Jubilee asked when the movie finished and Remy had gotten up to take out the DVD and get the TV back on.

"Here at the school? You don't think things are getting back on track?" Rogue frowned.

"I mean **better**. Really better," Jubilee sighed. "...I was talking to Alex. Sometimes I think about going to D.C and staying there with him, just bailing."

"Really?"

"Well, I don't think I'll actually do it," Jubilee kicked her feet up on the arm of the couch. "Sometimes I just think about it because it would just be easier- things here never seem like they stay right for long, ya know?"

"Jus' cuz it's easy don't mean it'll end well," Remy offered where he stood near the entertainment center spinning the remote in his hand.

"What would you know about it?" Bobby scoffed. "You got here like two minutes ago- we've been here facing mutant problems while you're, what, stealing pearls from old ladies..."

"It's a little more complex den dat," Remy's pride made him sneer in Bobby's direction. "And dere are other hard things in the world- don' be naive."

"Whatever...you can't just run away. That doesn't mean mutant registration and mutant haters aren't going to effect you," Bobby continued.

"I'm not running away!" Jubilee threw her hands up- clearly she should have waited to have this conversation.

"Be nice, Bobby. She's just thinking out loud. Don't pretend you've never wanted to get away. Haven't we all?" Rogue reasoned.

"I guess- sorry Jubes," Bobby muttered, sharing a half-annoyed glance with Sam at his left.

"...I just feel like we're not changing anything."

"We do, though...what we do and try to do matters. It matters that we care and try to help people who need it. What if some of these government people had their way, huh? People who want to register mutants, force cures on them...do experiments on them. We can't just let it go, right?"

"I know, that's what keeps me here," Jubilee nodded and picked boredly at a string on the bottom of her shirt. "Just...I mean, sometimes it **does** suck. It's rough..."

"Well..." Rogue sighed and wasn't sure what to say- Jubilee was right, after all, because sometimes things really were kind of terrible.

Remy met her eye and gave her a bit of an understanding nod.

"We'll all help each other figure it out," Remy offered up.

No one said anything to add to this but kind of looked around and nodded to themselves in agreement. They'd all decided they were in this thing, so they didn't have much other choice than to do what Remy had just said.

"I can't find Storm to help me with my science homework-Rogue, will you help?" Megan Gywynn fluttered to the doorway with her unstable little wings.

"Sure," Rogue smiled.

She glanced at Jubilee and squeezed her leg to comfort her before getting up to follow the young girl upstairs to her room so they could look at her work. It stayed quiet in the rec room in Rogue's stead. Remy glanced at Jubilee and felt like he should say something to the conflicted girl. However, he didn't even know who this Alex in Washington D.C was- this was the first he'd heard mention of the name. A little flirting might have gone a long way in lightening the mood for her, but for all he knew it would offend her- he felt that the girl always grew quite gleeful when she spotted him and Rogue together.

"Y'okay?" was his admittedly-lame check.

"Yeah, maybe I'm just tired and should hit the sack early tonight," Jubilee offered him a smile despite her melancholy.

"And dream bout dis Alex keepin' ya company under de sheets?" he waggled his eyebrows.

Jubilee blushed and almost successfully stifled a short giggle.

"Um, duh! Buuuut, only dreaming unless Kurt can teach me to teleport to D.C," she smiled wistfully as she sat up.

"Sorry- don' think ya should hold yo' breath on dat"

"Yeah, yeah," she chuckled, albeit with little genuine humor. "Guess we can't have everything we want, right?"

"Says who?" Remy smirked. "If ya don't have somethin', just make it yours with a little careful planning," he winked.

"I'm going to pretend you're not advising that I kidnap someone," Jubilee laughed and circled around the couch to go gather up her things.

Snorting softly, Remy took his leave and headed for the door, too. He'd seen Bobby shake his head at his last comment, but he refrained from making a comment to further dig at him. Scott's disciple had the same sort of disapproval for Remy's extracurricular activities as his mentor, but they'd all had a nice moment among X-Men a few minutes ago, and he supposed it would be crass to turn right around and spoil it with verbal sparing.

He thought perhaps he would go down to the basement to use the gym now that his reason for lingering on the main floor had been whisked away by a little pixie of a girl. Heading through the foyer, Remy paused by the window. Logan - one resident Remy was actually unsure where he stood with- was strolling through the small playground, indicating he must have been on night duty checking for delinquent students.

He leaned against the windowsill and scrubbed a hand over his face tiredly. Even after a few weeks here a the mansion, it felt strange to be back from time to time.

Remy had been there before, so he knew the halls and some of the people; the issue wasn't that things were overwhelmingly new. It just felt surreal to be back in such a different mindset than he'd been in for those months several years ago. He had been a mess when Storm welcomed him in and let him hole up in a stuffy attic room. For the most part, he'd spent the days hating himself...berating himself for his stupidity and cowardice. He should have _known. _He should have _done_ something...

"_Merde_," he muttered and shoved away from the window to stroll down the plush, red-carpeted hall.

The whole evening had swiftly turned from pleasant to weighty...it was definitely time to hit the gym and wear himself out.


	8. Unexpected

**Alright, I know it's really been a long time and I apologize. On top of having a lot going on (working 40hrs a week and fulltime grad student) I just have so many ideas for this story. I know where it's going...but I have so many ideas of how to get there...probably too many. I have lots of chapters written, but now i question all of them lol. I've been changing or completely chucking out a lot of stuff...not that it's bad, but I keep thinking of ways to improve it. It sounds silly, but this story (or versions of it, i guess) has been in the works and/or in my mind for a long time so I guess I just want to get it right...? It's been a pet project for a while, so I just want to do it justice. I'll try to write a little faster for you though.**

**I really appreciate the feedback. I've gotten quite a bit of support, so I really love that- thanks so much. **

**Hope you enjoy chapter 8. =)**

* * *

Unexpected  
_You must remember this  
__A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh  
_"_**As Time Goes By"**_

"Look at you, being so responsible"

Rogue smiled when she heard Logan and looked up from the sink, where she was washing the cups and bowls she'd snatched out of the common areas. The students were pretty much all to bed now, so she'd gone through and cleaned out the rec rooms on her way through the floor.

"That okay? Or were you looking forward to doing it?" she joked.

"No, that's all you," he snorted and leaned against the kitchen island, arms crossed. "...I've been meanin' to talk to you..."

"Well that doesn't sound great..." Rogue frowned.

She was suddenly feeling reluctant to be part of the conversation. Perhaps this way because Logan, himself, sounded like he didn't like saying what he'd already said.

"Well, it's just that I've seen you and Gumbo around this place..." he sighed, plowing on.

"Logan..."

"C'mon, just let me, huh?" he appealed.

Of course he didn't want to have this conversation, but Rogue was like...well, he didn't want to say "like a daughter" to him, but she was like a little sister at least. After the last couple weeks, he'd be remise not to say something. He'd seen them talking quietly together on several occasions, caught them laying closely together on the couch, and heard the quiet speculation amongst students and other staff about what was or wasn't going on between the pair...

And then there was what he'd witnessed in the Danger Room...

_It was hardly a secret that Logan had trouble sleeping. He could often be found prowling the halls of the mansion at night. This let him walk off whatever wary feelings his nightmares frequently left him with, and it indulged his need to make sure all was secure. Then, he typically liked to go down to the lower levels and beat the snot out of something or someone- it pleased him that the Danger Room could supply him either either. _

_ He strolled down the sterile, too-bright halls and was momentarily surprised to see a red glow from the monitor by the bay doors of the Danger Room, signaling the room was already in use. That wasn't altogether unheard of- he'd found the room used at odd hours by Scott, Rogue, or a couple others. Curious and, perhaps, slightly annoyed, he made his way to the observation room instead. He supposed it might not be all bad- if a good simulation was running, he could just join right in. _

_ As it was, he did __**not**__ want to join. Remy and Rogue were in the midst of a simulation of a white-walled room with dark wood trimming and support beams. The floor was a white padding, which suggested to Logan it was some kind of dojo. The fact that the pair was wearing sweats and old clothes also suggested to Logan that they had been sparring...at some point. _

_ Currently, they were sprawled on the floor, and Remy was propped partially above Rogue with one hand pushed into her hair as he kissed her. Logan did not like the way that Remy's body melded down against Rogues, nor did he like how Rogue's fingers scratched at Remy's t-shirt - although, he did say a silent thanks that the Cajun at least had a shirt on today. _

_ "Christ," he growled. _

_ He saw as Remy shifted his way to one arm and removed his hand from Rogue's hair to slowly start to unzip her hoodie so he could smooth a hand over exposed skin under her sports bra. It satisfied him just slightly that Rogue shifted and stilled his hand, but it also rose his hackles..._

_ With a huff, he stormed from the room and back down to the Danger Room doors. Unceremoniously, he punched a button to open the metal doors since he knew this was not a simulation that could hurt anyone who stumbled in unawares. _

_ "If you're not training, go ahead and get out. _

_ Both younger occupants of the room started, and Rogue jumped when she saw Logan and quickly scooted away and into a seated position. Remy was clearly less concerned, but he pushed himself up to sit on his haunches anyway, offering Logan a casual return gaze. _

_ "Well," Logan urged him and jerked his thumb over his shoulder to direct them on their way. _

_ Smirking, Remy stood swiftly and offered a hand to help Rogue up; she accepted it, but dropped it as soon as she was back on her feet. She seemed shifty under Logan's gaze and scurried out after muttering something about taking a shower. Conversely, Remy sauntered out with a little more grace; his dark eyes practically invited Logan to say something. _

But Logan didn't think he had a lot he needed to say to Remy. He figured anything he _would_ say would just further encourage the man to pursue Rogue further. Rogue may be the same way - she was young and did have a defiant streak in her, after all- so he'd have to refrain from straight-out telling her not to do what she was starting to do...

Rogue sighed but nodded for him to go ahead and continue.

"I know you're young and...you've got your hormones and shit...

Rogue sighed uncomfortably here and regretted having turned at the sink to face him.

"And now you can, ya know...touch a guy the way you want to," Logan continued, suddenly finding he didn't want to specifically name what she could now safely do. "But all that...it doesn't mean you need to go touching the first guy that comes along..."

"Logan!"

"I'm just sayin'," Logan continued. "...you're a good kid. I'm sure it's extra exciting with all of this bein' pretty new, but you can wait for the right guy everything. Trust me, sometimes putting up with the wrong one winds up being a lot of pain and work..."

"Look, I'm not stupid"

"I know, I know!" Logan quickly agreed.

"Well, I'm not going around with the first guy I found...if that was the case, I would've tried to get back together with Bobby," Rogue crossed her arms to match Logan.

Logan made an unfavorable face at the thought of that, too.

"It's just that...you're dealing with years of pent up..._urges_, and I know it's fun - trust me, I know - but don't get caught up in all that fun and forget to think, huh?"

"Yeah, but...he's good to me..."

"Oh, I'm sure he is," Logan snorted.

Rogue threw up her hands- they were obviously not going to agree on anything regarding this topic, at least not today.

"Can I go now?"

Logan nodded.

Swiftly, she made her exit- she'd finish with those dishes later.

"Kid?"

"Uh-huh," she stopped in the door.

"If nothin' else, just...be safe. Ya know, use-"

"I've had _that_ talk with Storm," Rogue told him very quickly.

"Oh...well...good," he nodded sternly to save face.

With a small nod of her own, Rogue exited. She didn't know whether she ought to laugh or curl up with embarrassment.

"Laugh!" Jubilee told her later when the girls were getting ready for bed in their shared bathroom.

"Yeah?"

"Um, yeah...you should've made him sweat it out, too. Like...ya know, asked questions when he started trying to talk about safe sex," the shorter girl giggled.

"Ew, Jubes. That was the worst part of it..."

"Worse than him insinuating you might be whorish?" Jubilee rose an eyebrow.

Rogue sighed. She was sure Logan hadn't meant to imply anything of the sort, but she hadn't like the idea that he thought she was just touching whatever attractive man she could find in arm's reach.

"The whole thing was stupid..."

"What's with older guys thinking they need to advise us? I got the same sort of thing from Scott when Alex and I started our...well, whatever this is. It's like they think we can't make smart sexual decisions because we're girls. If guys can decide what they want to do, then so can we," she rolled her eyes.

Rogue smiled at her friend's indigence, and she was glad she wasn't the only one who thought the conversation hadn't been necessary. It was nice that he cared, but she doubted she'd have gotten the same treatment if she were a boy.

"So, how are you and Alex these days?"

"Alright... I'm planning a DC trip," Jubilee smiled. "A lot's been going on and I think I could use a little time to myself."

"You deserve it - I can cover your classes. You still feeling down?"

Rogue had been trying to check in with her friend a little more deliberately lately, ever since the discussion in the rec room about how things were going out in the world. While Rogue understood the inclination to take off and leave all of the trouble to someone else, she worried about Jubilee now that she'd voiced the idea and wanted to make sure she wasn't still in a rut.

"Yeah," Jubilee smiled a little into the mirror. "I mean...the doubts are always kind of there, but I'm feeling more positive about it. Like...I **know** we're doing the right thing."

"Hey, you don't have to explain yourself to me...you think part of me didn't want to stay holed up at a nice hotel in New Orleans?"

The memory came back to her of finding that hotel room in shambles after Bella Donna had ransacked it, but up until _that_ moment she'd certainly been tempted to stay.

"Yeah, yeah- don't remind me _you've_ had a recent vacation," Jubilee scoffed.

Rogue only smiled, for she couldn't deny the trip had been both work and pleasure.

* * *

"Hey, I saw Callisto's here; she was going with Storm to her office," Jubilee dished the gossip, finding Rogue in the library the following afternoon.

"Yeah, I showed her in when she got here. Did you see that blonde? Marrow, Callisto called her...she didn't have a whole lot to say," Rogue looked up from browsing a college catalogue- she'd soon be able to choose some college courses for the semester starting in January.

"Nah, must've missed her. She wasn't heading to their meeting...do you think she's some kind of body guard?" Jubilee wrinkled her nose.

"...I would hope Callisto doesn't think she needs a _bodyguard_ in a school full of kids," Rogue answered, but she shrugged all the same.

"Dunno...well, I always feel weird when she comes- like she's judging us," Jubilee slouched in the seat she'd claimed.

Rogue considered this- she sometimes felt the same.

"The Morlocks just live differently than us, and they probably feel a lot of pride about it, ya know?" she shrugged.

"Sure, but I don't judge her for making homes in old sewers, so she could return the favor... ... maybe I'll just hide out here with you until she's gone..."

"Glad I could be of service," Rogue chuckled and looked back down at her computer screen.

Meanwhile, a tall Louisiana native was strolling leisurely down a different wing of the first floor.

"Gambit..."

He stopped in the hallway, looking around for the unfamiliar voice that was addressing him.

"Well, well..."

He spun directly around, then, to see a slim woman with short blonde hair standing in the doorway to the kitchen; her brown cargo pants and tan t-shirt were relatively clean but well-worn. None of this was specifically remarkable; what was striking were the bony protrusions jutting from her cheekbones, elbows and, by the looks of it, shoulders. This defining feature was also how Remy recognized her.

"_Merde..._"

"Long time no see...how long's it been?" the girl cocked an eyebrow that might've suggested she was mildly interested.

Remy, so good at reading people, couldn't get much off her. Maybe he didn't want to.

"Years," he answered, never mind that he was sure it was a rhetorical question.

"...you look good," she appraised him.

"...should we go talk somewhere?" Remy asked quietly, looking up and down the hall with genuine concern that someone was going to come along at a very, _very_ inopportune moment.

"Mmhmm," she answered, popping her eyebrows up in a very interested way.

Remy was sure he didn't quite understand her reaction to him, but he tried to direct her to the small study room down the hall, only to find Bobby there. He cursed under his breath and strode briskly to his room instead, wrenching the door open. It was all he could do not to shove the blonde inside to overcompensate for how wrong-footed he felt.

"What're you doin' here?"

"I've been in New York for two years...I'm friendly with Callisto- she's the leader here..."

"And?"

"And she's friends with Storm or something and they stay in contact now and then...I didn't know **you'd** be here..."

Remy had never expected to see the blonde again. If he had, he would've imagined there'd be shouting, threats, or possible a physical attack...he felt any combination of those three would be wholly justified.

What he'd never have expected was this casual greeting, or this..._something_ in her acceptance of his presence.

"Haven' been for too long..."

She didn't appear overly interested in the fact and simply watched him watch her for a while.

"So what now?" he finally asked.

Remy LeBeau did not traditionally cave first, but in this instance he could not _stand_ not knowing, nor could he stand her simple silence.

"Whatever you want," She smirked.

Remy frowned, disbelieving her.

"What? You expected something else? You did save my life- a girl can be grateful," she nearly purred.

"...I'm de reason yo' life needed savin'."

He knew that she knew this.

"I'd just gotten to Boston- that wasn't my home. I told you I barely knew those people...I got out safe, so you're good in my books."

Remy still eyed her skeptically as she inched nearer. It sounded like a lie, yet she was not emoting deception. Perhaps she was just that selfish or cold...

"You look a little tense," she grinned as she reached for him.

She slid a hand up his chest and over his shoulder.

Remy didn't move but he genuinely couldn't believe she - of all people- was coming-on to him.

"I haven't been getting out much, Gambit- why don't we relax?"

"Tsss," Remy inhaled sharply when she pulled herself flush to him and she pushed her free hand down over the front of his jeans. "Y' don' beat 'round de bush, do ya?"

"That's not as fun," she grinned and leaned in to kiss him.

She was quite tall, so she did this rather easily. Remy's mind was still racing to catch up to the entire situation- he was generally not this off-kilter about a sexual encounter.

His companion seemed fully unbothered as she maneuvered them to the bed and nudged him to sit down. She was smiling at him, eyes hooded as she stepped between his legs. Without a word, she bent to grab his t-shirt and whisk it off of him.

The tension between them had shifted; the new mood did not altogether put Remy at ease, but it was...dare he say exciting.

"You are a very find specimen," blue eyes raked his lithe form.

It was a clinical and detached appreciation, but a complimentary appraisal nonetheless. She wreaked of "wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am," but Remy had experience in that department. She pushed on his shoulders to shove him onto his back and descended on his neck. It felt good, but...not ...

"Sarah..." he sighed.

He wasn't sure when he'd gotten resistant to a one night (or afternoon, as it were) stand. She quickly sat back where she was straddling his waist.

"Marrow"

"Huh?"

"Don't call me Sarah," she scowled.

"Marrow," he nodded. "_Desole_."

"You don't need to get all fuzy on me," she scratched his chest lightly when he lapsed into French. "No need to act sentimental- it's just us freaks here," she grinned.

She doubled over to lick along his cheek bone under his eyes and then move on to nip at his ear. Remy scowled at the ceiling- maybe because of the name calling, and took hold of her waist to flip her over.

He had half a mind to get up and walk out...yet he couldn't deny it had been a while. His mind was very hung up on the fact that he was worked-up and this was an easy way to let off steam, and his hands found the top of her pants. ..

"Now you're getting it," she smiled.

**Knock** Knock**

"Don't you dare," Marrow whispered when he looked over at the door.

...she was right.

**Knock**Knock**

Remy groaned and sat back.

"You're kidding!"

"It could be a student," he muttered.

Though many students still didn't know what to really think of him, he was staff and ought not ignore a problem.

"_Chere_," he greeted when, much to his horror, Rogue stood just outside his door.

She looked him over pleasantly, not at all disappointed in his shirtless state, and smiled.

"Hey"

"Afternoon," he nodded politely.

Perhaps too politely, for she raised an amused eyebrow.

Remy heard movement behind him and had the distinct feeling there was no point trying to edge the door closer a little more. Sure enough, thin but strong arms wrapped around him from behind.

"Is it important?" Marrow crooned from behind him before stepping to the side to see who'd interrupted.

In other circumstances, Rogue's face would've been a comically perfect picture of surprise, right down to her lips falling open in a small "o." As it was, Remy wasn't laughing.

"What is it, _chere_?" Remy prompted, shrugging away slightly from the blonde.

Maybe that was a mistake, because then Rogue's eyes just dropped to take-in Marrow's undone pants. Remy was sure that nothing about this sight could be spun into a positive thing.

"... 'Ro's calling for a meeting- thought I'd let you know," she finally spoke again, much more blandly than before.

"Can't he miss? He's a little busy..."

"...do what you want," Rogue replied in short order before turning on her heel to go.

"Good...come on," Marrow pulled Remy to twist him around.

"_Non_, you heard her- I gotta go.

"...seriously?" she rose an eyebrow high.

"Very," he nodded and brushed by her to go retrieve his shirt.

"Fine," she sighed. "Hope it's a good meeting. Callisto is probably looking for me, anyway. I might be by again with her..."

She left that open and did up her pants and combed her fingers through his chopped hair before using the door. Remy had half a mind to cal her back and ask what she was going to do now that she knew where he was, but he found he'd much rather not talk to her.

As it turned out, the meeting Rogue had fetched Remy for a big meeting in the War Room. The meeting had originally been scheduled for the following day, but Charles had to leave for a few days so they bumped it up since Callisto has provided some valuable information.

"Feet **off** the table, Gambit," Scott glowered as he got up to talk about what they'd heard of Magneto lately.

Remy did so and took-in what Scott said, but he really only half-listened. When Storm took over to discuss what she'd learned about The Friends of Humanity, he paid more active attention out of friendly courtesy and because they irked him more than Magneto did.

All in all, they were there nearly two hours. Between briefings and discussions, they had a lot to go over. The professor also expressed his pride in all of them for working hard and discussed what kinds of trainings he thought they ought to focus on. Logan, Storm, and Scott had a lot to say on this, and everyone chimed in with criticisms and thoughts for improvement.

"Rogue," Remy attempted to intercept he in the hallway as everyone trickled away from the meeting to go abut their business.

He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but it seemed better to resolve this situation now than to let it fester. Not that there was much of a way to explain away what she had seen.

"I have stuff to do," she edged around him and onto the elevator with Jubilee and Logan.

While Jubilee looked confused, Logan audibly snorted and was smiling a little as the doors to the lift slid shut. Remy wasn't going to argue about it further, not now in front of the others. Instead, he listened to her ascend to the upper floors and punched the wall next to him in frustration. He didn't care that Kurt and Bobby gave him looks of confusion and annoyance from down the hall.

Rather than follow Rogue upstairs -he was not descend to pestering and nagging- he stomped to the locker room to change and go take out his frustrations on a heavy punching bag hanging in the weight room.

Remy could still seem to feel Marrow's fingers on his skin, and he punched the bag harder.

He hated himself for having tripped into her web and let that situation escalate...why had he done that when he'd rather have been kissing the very woman who'd caught him with the blonde?

He hated himself even more from the more distant memories Marrow brought up. He fought on a regular basis to forget her, Boston, everything, and here it was...in his face.

His fists thumping against the thick bag made him feel better but only marginally so, and he knew it was only temporary. Rather than stop and reflect on his thoughts, he stayed. He didn't know how long he was there, exactly, but it must have been some time because Logan returned to the basement; Remy saw him in his peripheral vision.

Logan quirked an eyebrow, for it had been a while since the meeting had ended. The Cajun was covered in sweat; maybe he'd been there since they'd been dismissed. Logan was pretty sure he didn't care, but that was a pretty high level of aggression to get out if the young man had been there that long. He could identify with that, so he trudged over to hold the bag for him.

Remy paused, chest heaving to eye Logan, to search him for some kind of agenda behind the helpful act. The two weren't exactly bosom buddies. When Logan said nothing and also made no move to leave, Remy just gave a small node and stripped away his sticking shirt before he resumed his punching- better to have tired and sore limbs than a crazed mind.

Neither spoke.


End file.
